Tag: problem-solving

It’s easy to give children maths problems to solve; it’s much harder (and very time consuming) to systematically teach problem-solving so children become more competent problem-solvers. Here’s some thoughts on how my teaching of problem-solving has evolved and how I See Problem-Solving fits within this vision.

I have always loved engaging children in rich maths problems. The EEF research (recommendation 3) highlights the importance of engaging children in non-routine maths tasks. However, it also points out that such tasks can create a heavy a cognitive load for many children. Now I try I think more carefully about the sub-skills involved in solving a problem, and build up to the introduction of a problem-solving task using more carefully chosen examples. Consider this question:

Here’s how I built up to using this task. First of all, we clarify how to calculate the sum of four numbers and the difference between the smallest/largest numbers using this question:

Then we model the process of finding all possible answers with this prompt (answers: 5&5, 4&6, 7&3). We also highlight a likely mistake: 8&2 (the difference between the smallest/largest number no longer 4).

Then the final ‘pre-task’ question is introduced, focusing on the most difficult part of the calculation:

Now we get into the main task (sum of 4 numbers is 23, difference between smallest/largest = 4, all numbers different, how many ways?). Where appropriate, children use whiteboards and counters to access the task. When we find the answer 3, 4, 7, 9 we consider whether there is another solution that can be found keeping the 3&9 as the smallest/largest numbers.

As the lesson progresses, we explore systems for finding all possible answers and some children move on to the explain/extend tasks (which are variations on the main task). If you want to use Task 13, check out the free sample resources on this page. The solution to the problem is shown step-by-step by the pre-made worked example.

One little caveat: some children may benefit more from going straight into the question; others may need this extra scaffolding before getting into the main task. As ever, it’s about knowing your children.

There have been lots of great maths problems written. I hope that I See Problem-Solving takes things to the next level by presenting related problems and reasoning tasks in a coherent order, and by clearly representing the mathematics within the tasks.

I also hope that this blog gives food for thought about how to introduce problem-solving tasks so more children experience success. Enjoy using the resources!

I See Problem Solving – UKS2 is designed to transform the teaching of problem-solving in mathematics. Its design addresses Recommendation 3: teach strategies for solving problems from the recent EEF report. It will give all children the opportunity to understand and answer non-standard questions, whilst also providing appropriate challenge. This blog focuses on how extra challenge is provided to deepen and extend children’s learning in each task.

Each task begins with the main prompt question. For some children, answering this question may be their ‘Everest’; others will need more challenge.

First of all, a number of the tasks include a ‘how many ways’ prompt, with the challenge coming from finding all possible answers. Here’s a typical example of a ‘how many ways’ task:

And here are two other initial prompts:

Each task comes with an Explain prompt, where children have to unpick likely misconceptions, solve related problems, rank questions by difficulty or agree/disagree with different opinions. The prompts here are similar to those from I See Reasoning – UKS2 and will extend the thinking from the initial prompt. Here are the Explain prompts for the above examples:

For many children, the real challenge will come from the Extend prompt for each task. These tasks are related to the initial prompt, but the challenge is taken to the next level. These are the corresponding Extend examples (and two of the friendlier ones!):

This blog explains how extra support is also provided in each task.

I See Problem Solving – UKS2 includes a huge range non-standard problem-solving tasks spanning right across the curriculum. It costs £24.98.

I See Problem Solving – UKS2 is designed to transform the teaching of problem-solving in mathematics. Its design addresses Recommendation 3: teach strategies for solving problems from the recent EEF report. It will give all children the opportunity to understand and answer non-standard questions, whilst also providing appropriate challenge. This blog focuses on how extra support is provided to help children to ‘see’ the structure of the problems and to experience success.

The tasks are designed to be used at the end of a sequence of lessons, so children have developed their basic skills in that curriculum area. To start with, children are given the initial prompt – a question where there is not an obvious ‘standard’ approach to work out the answer. Here are two examples of the initial prompts:

There is then a ‘support’ prompt for each task which the children may choose to use. This will help children to understand the mathematical structure of the task. It may show a part-completed bar model, give some suggestions or offer a ‘way into’ the task. This will help all children to access the task and be more likely to taste success.

Then there is a ‘worked example’ to accompany each task. This is a series of images that shows the solutions modelled step-by-step, helping children to see the ‘deep structure’ of each problem. You will be able to download this for free as a PDF and/or as a PowerPoint file (available at iseemaths.com when the product is released). Here is a page from each of the worked examples from our two example tasks:

This blog explains how deeper levels of reasoning and extra challenge are then built into each task.

I See Problem Solving – UKS2 includes a huge range non-standard problem-solving tasks spanning right across the curriculum. It costs £24.98.