Maths by Month – December (updated 2020)

Welcome to the December installment of this year’s Maths by Month posts, designed to explore the Operation Maths topics on a month-by-month basis.

As we journey together through on this school year, with all the uncertainties and possibilities that it may bring, rest assured that Edco Primary Maths and the Operation Maths blog will continue to support teachers, schools and families, along the way.

Central to this will be our Digging Deeper series of posts aimed at teachers and the ever-expanding series of Dear Family posts, aimed at parents and families, supporting children’s mathematical development at home. In addition, for teachers who want to find out more about the Operation Maths program, check out the About Operation Maths posts.

HINT: To ensure you don’t miss out on any future blog-posts, please subscribe to the Operation Maths blog via email, on the top right hand of this page.
Another way to keep up to date an all new maths-related developments is to like/follow the Edco Primary Maths page on Facebook and/or Twitter 

Operation Maths for Junior Infants to Sixth Class:

• Junior Infants: Analysis of Number (Numeration) looking at the number four
• Senior Infants: 3D Objects, Spatial Relations and Time (the days of the week).
• First Class: Money, Place Value within 20, Patterns and Capacity.
• Second Class: Time (the calendar) Place Value within 99 and Representing and Interpreting Data

HINT: Teachers of Infants to Second Class – don’t forget to use the Operation Maths Assessment Records on excel for recording and collating the End of December Assessments

• Third Class: Multiplication and Division, Time and Money
• Fourth Class: Fractions and Patterns & Sequences
• Fifth Class: Fractions and 3D Objects
• Sixth Class: Fractions  and 3D Objects

To access lists of relevant links and online resources, navigate towards the end of the relevant Dear Family posts, for a whole suite of suggestions, organised into approximate class levels.

Don’t forget that integrated with your digital Operation Maths pupil books, are numerous custom-made digital resources to support each maths topic. Just click any of the hyperlinks while viewing the digital book to bring you direct to the relevant resource.

TIP! If there are any digital resources for a particular page, they will also be briefly given and described in the footer of that page (both print and digital books). 

HINT: If you are new to Operation Maths this year or have changed class level, be sure to check out the Quick Start Guide to the Operation Maths books and the companion Quick Start Guide to the Operation Maths Digital Resources. Don’t forget that Operation Maths also has you covered for planning whether you’re teaching a single class or multi-class. 

Other suggestions for December:

• This year, Computer Science Education Week runs from 7-13 December, during which time, they are also encouraging everybody, young and old, to engage with their annual Hour of Code event.  Coding is the future! Computers are changing every industry on the planet. Every 21st-century student should have the opportunity to build technology. Click on the links above to access Hour of Code and other computer science activities for learners of all ages. Operation Maths users can also access the tailor-made Operation Maths Scratch lessons on https://edcolearning.ie 
• Check out the NRICH Primary Advent Calendar. They have lots of other Christmas-themed activities that can be accessed here: https://nrich.maths.org/public/search.php?search=christmas. They also have an Advent-themed sudoku challenge that some of the more-able senior class pupils might like to tackle.
• Mash-up Maths have a Christmas-themed 12 Days of Holiday Math Challenges, suitable for 1st class up. It can be better to hide all the puzzle initially, and then, reveal just one line at a time and ask the children to record and justify all the possible solutions based on what they know at that point. As they move through each line, they can then explain why they should now discard certain options. This is a better way to engage all of the children in thinking mathematically, rather than it just becoming a race to the solution (which can often turn-off those less mathematically-inclined). For more of this type of problem sign up to the Mash-up Maths weekly newsletter, to receive lots of other themed maths puzzles and challenges like this Grinch-themed challenge.
• Interested in more Christmas-themed maths problems? From Dec 1-24 the German Maths Society posts a daily problem (in English) on its online Advent Calendar. There are 3 levels of difficulty, 4th class to adults.

We’re here to help! If you have any questions on Operation Maths, Number Facts or anything related to primary maths over the course of the school year, please PM or contact Edco Primary Maths via Facebook and/or Twitter