Back to Planning articles & videos

Three ideas to work mental maths into your week

Think Mentals 25/3/19

Mental computation is an essential skill that’s not only applicable in maths class but in everyday life. When and how you work it into your schedule can make all the difference in your students mastering it. Here are three ideas for working mental maths into your week.

1. To kick off each day

Different subjects are learned more efficiently at different times of the day, and research¹ shows that mornings should be all about maths. While it may not be possible to rearrange your class’s timetable to fit your whole maths lesson in first up, you can certainly fit in your daily mental maths session to improve mental computation retention.

2. To warm up for maths lessons

If you can’t start your day with mental maths, the next best thing is to start your maths lesson with it. Mental computation warms up your students’ maths brains and gets them ready for tasks that require higher-order thinking and problem solving.

3. To consolidate at home

If you run out of time during the week to complete your mental maths sessions, you can always set it as homework. Once you’ve taught the new mental maths strategy and your students have achieved a level of proficiency, they can complete the rest of the questions at home.

References

1. Turner, C 2017, ‘Maths classes should be taught in the morning to improve attainment, study finds’, The Telegraph, 12 April, viewed 13 February 2019, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2017/04/12/maths-classes-should-taught-morning-improve-attainment-study/.↩

More Think Mentals articles & videos