Let's Calculate - The Complete Series (5 lessons)

In this first lesson, children will start to explore the function of brackets in a calculation and start to solve calculations involving one set of brackets. They will be encouraged to solve such problems mentally whenever they can. They will also read and understand a two-step word problem, expressing the problem as a single calculation involving brackets. There is also the opportunity to see how many different ways they can find to find the answer to a calculation where the answer is given.

During this lesson, children will explore the meaning of the equals sign and investigate different ways of solving an equation so that it is correct, such as 35 ÷ 5 = 32 - 2 or 35 ÷ 5 = (40 + 9) ÷ 7. They will also solve missing number problems in equations. Children are encouraged to solve calculations using all four operations, brackets and square numbers.

This lesson will help your class to solve problems that involve scaling by simple fractions, e.g. finding half more or a quarter less than a given amount. They are challenged to do this through word problems as well as straightforward calculations in a game situation that will encourage them to solve problems mentally.

This lesson challenges your class to solve a variety of word problems that will require them to really understand what the question is asking them and which of the four operations they will need to use in order to find the answer. They can also solve written problems that will require them to know and understand key vocabulary associated with all four operations.

The final lesson in this series gives your class the chance to try some more challenging two-step or multi-step problems involving all four operations. They will be asked to express the working out they need to do for each problem in a single calculation involving brackets. This is a great lesson for assessing how well your children can understand, interpret and solve multi-step word problems. There are also some tricky number riddles to solve!