Maths by Month – May (updated 2021)

Welcome to the May installment of Maths by Month. Summer is officially here, made even more real by some of the recent spells of fine weather. Hopefully we get to enjoy more good weather this coming month!

As we move towards testing season, and the end of this challenging school year, rest assured that Edco Primary Maths and the Operation Maths blog will continue to support teachers, schools and families, via:

• Dear Family, our ever-expanding series of posts, aimed at parents and families, supporting children’s mathematical development at home
• Digging Deeper, our series of posts, aimed at teachers, providing deeper insights into the underlying theory, approaches and pedagogies behind the various maths topics
• About Operation Maths posts, for teachers who want to find out more about the Operation Maths program itself.

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: Weight, Capacity, and more exploration of Comparing and Ordering and Combining and Partitioning amounts to up to five
• Senior Infants: Further consolidation of amounts to up to ten via Counting and Numeration, Comparing and Ordering and Combining and Partitioning; Money
• First Class: Money, 2-D shapes and Operations (to include addition with renaming)
• Second Class:  Operations (addition & subtraction within 99, without and with renaming), Money and Place Value to 199.
• Third class: Capacity, Sequences & Number Sentences and Chance
• Fourth class: Capacity, Number Sentences and Chance
• Fifth class: Capacity, Number Sentences & Equations and Chance
• Sixth class: Capacity, Equations & Variables and Chance

Teachers of Infants to Second Class: if you chose to administer the Operation Maths End of April Assessments, don’t forget to check out the Excel Record Spreadsheets to accompany the assessments in the Assessment Booklets; if you have any suggestions for how to improve these, please leave them here.

To access lists of relevant links and online resources (eg lessons, videos, games etc), 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 May:

• May the Fourth Be With You! International Star Wars Day (May the fourth) is almost here!
  • For any of the Star Wars fans in your class, why not try out this selection of themed puzzles and images from MashUp Math? And stay away from the dark side!
  • Another teacher has created a selection of attractive and free posters Star Wars that also promote a growth mindset to maths at the same time. To download yours, go to his blog here.
• Outdoor Classroom Day is May 20 2021. This global event encourages us to use the outdoors to teach, explore and learn. There are lots of resources with suggestions for all subject areas, including maths, https://outdoorclassroomday.com/.
• For more ideas for outdoor maths you could also check out:
  • the Maths Around Us activity ideas in your Operation Maths book
  • the Maths Around Us videos accessible at https://www.edcolearning.ie/
  • this post, Maths fun in the sun
  • Stem Smaointe 8 from the PDST

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