Mental Mondays #19

mental and oral maths

This week we offer a PowerPoint presentation that takes you through nine separate mental challenges. Each slide is based on a puzzle that involves connecting a series of numbers so that the total is always the same.

The puzzles are based on a pattern of lines and circles. Like this:

mental and oral maths challenge

The children are shown a puzzle and must copy the pattern onto a mini-whiteboard and then, working with a partner, insert the appropriate numbers in the circles to create the same total along each line.

The puzzles offered increase in difficulty and the presentation could be used in multiple ways. The first few slides are simple and would suit younger children; for older children they would make a useful introduction to the idea of the puzzles before moving onto the more complex ones. None of the line patterns should offer too much challenge, but the important concept here is that the children feel comfortable sharing strategies and creating their own puzzles.

mental and oral maths powerpoint

Here's a further indication of what the simple PowerPoint screens look like.

Some offer an additional clue, and all link to a suggested solution (although, many varieties of right answers can be created and the children can have success without necessarily duplicating the exact answers displayed... a good follow-up challenge could involve considering how many different correct solutions there could be for any given puzzle!)

 

If you are a mathstick+ member then you can access an editable version of this PowerPoint from the mathstick+ dashboard.

  

As always, we really look forward to hearing what you think of this in the comments, and (of course) would really appreciate all your Likes, tweets and Pluses if you enjoy it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

6 Comments

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
vizzavic's picture

 As we have a staggered start

Submitted by vizzavic on Wed, 12/19/2012 - 18:53.
 As we have a staggered start to the day this is another great 'morning work' challenge whilst waiting for the register  - Thanks
up
0 users have voted.
Pompier's picture

Thank you. This is a great

Submitted by Pompier on Tue, 10/09/2012 - 18:42.
Thank you. This is a great resource. I will be using it again and again!
up
0 users have voted.
Jacinta's picture

Great warm up activity

Submitted by Jacinta on Sun, 09/23/2012 - 07:20.
Great warm up activity
up
0 users have voted.
miss_p's picture

This works perfectly

Submitted by miss_p on Wed, 09/12/2012 - 15:32.
This works perfectly alongside the dfes maths challenges for able pupils challenge 'crossroads' thanks!
up
0 users have voted.
rhoneyman's picture

 This is a brilliant activity

Submitted by rhoneyman on Wed, 06/27/2012 - 10:49.
 This is a brilliant activity to target working mathematically and really thinking about their numbers. I am going to share it with all the teachers. Thanks for this one!
up
3 users have voted.
johdu's picture

Many thanks for the generous

Submitted by johdu on Wed, 06/27/2012 - 13:13.

Many thanks for the generous comments (and for continuing to recommend our resources). I have a series of mini puzzle books to accompany this maths PowerPoint - they will be published on this website in a few days or so... watch this space.

up
0 users have voted.