All New 100 Maths Lessons
All New 100 Maths Lessons is a set of 7 books (one for each year). I have only seen the first three – for Foundation stage (R) and Years 1 and 2. These claim to be “flexible, differentiated maths lessons for every day of the year…packed with easy-to-follow lesson plans you can use straight away …brought right up to date with completely new material to match the latest government guidance.”
The series, any series, of books which has the same format for teachers of children from the whole of the primary years I find somewhat depressing. Any book which purports to give everything a teacher needs to teach maths to a particular age group is suspect. BUT, and there is a real “but” here, these books do supply an enormous wealth of material.
The books are for teachers, not children. Each book contains exactly 224 pages of detailed lesson plans, photocopiable work-sheets and games, as well as termly and shorter term “lesson overview” planning grids. This mass of material in each book is backed by a CD with much more, for example, worksheets and templates to alter as necessary and print out, and resources such as clock faces. The great detail in the plans means that it is easy to hand over to a teaching assistant where necessary.
However, there are downsides. Most of the activities for the Reception/ Foundation Stage require adult supervision. There is one for two children in the sand. What about all the others? Some of the activities are boring and repetitive and I thought many of the worksheets too full and squashed up. The CD does not contain the planning so that it is not easy to adapt it and the pacing of the work might not suit all teachers and classes.
I think these books could be very useful in a well-stocked Key Stage One staffroom library. They would form a resource to be dipped into for ideas and supplementary material, but to be used with care, and not as the main source of teaching material. The only exception to this would be a beginning teacher, or one lacking in confidence who found the idea of teaching the subject overwhelming. To such, the books would prove a godsend and hopefully, a way into more independent teaching in the future.
Tracy Clinton, KS 1 teacher, Snape Primary School, Suffolk
& Jenny Murray, Independent Maths Consultant, Suffolk
All New 100 Maths Lessons
Ann Montague-Smith (R)
Caroline Clissold (1 & 2)
Scholastic
3 books - £25.00 each
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