Key Stage 3 Developing Numeracy: Algebra
Key Stage 3 Developing Numeracy is a series of photocopiable activity books which provide complete coverage of the teaching objectives of the Framework for teaching mathematics. There are three books in the series - one for each year group.
The authors have already published books looking at ‘Numbers and the Number System’ and ‘Calculations’ and they have now turned their hand to algebra (two more books - ‘Shape, Space and Measures’, and ‘Handling Data’ are promised in the spring).
Each of these books contains around 50 photocopiable worksheets, and solutions, and a brief note to teachers. The pages are laid out in an attractive style with a good use of different font styles and illustrations. The pages have a teaching point as a footnote.
The worksheets are surprisingly challenging. As a teacher in a grammar school I expected that our Y9 would find the Y9 worksheets too easy, but there were many sheets which presented a pleasing challenge for our students.
The Y7 book has worksheets covering basic algebraic concepts, equations, substitution, linear sequences, functions and graphs. Each sheet is very easy to follow and has sufficient questions to take students 20 to 30 minutes - an ideal middle part of a lesson.
By the end of the Y9 book students are facing questions relating to quadratic sequences, inverse of linear functions, expanding brackets and even some distance-time graphs.
The worksheets are best completed by allowing the students to write on them, so if you baulk at the cost of photocopying, perhaps these are not the sheets for you. I have used some of these worksheets for cover lessons and they have worked very well.
If you are growing tired of your textbook, or need some interesting worksheets then these could well be the books for you.
Peter Hall
Head of Mathematics, Tonbridge Grammar School, Kent
There are three books in the series, one for Y7, 8 and 9.The books are a photocopiable and have a selection of suggested oral and mental starters at the beginning of each book.
Each double spread page is based on an objective from the numeracy strategy framework and builds from a fairly easy start to more complicated examples. There are hints at the bottom of each page about the algebra being used or why it is used in that way (although many students miss this unless it is pointed out). It would be possible to structure a lesson based on some of the double page spreads so that teaching and practice are inter-spaced - or chunking as OFSTED calls it. This is not quite so easy with all of the spreads as there is a lot of content covered, but it is possible.
Some of the final activities actually provoke student thinking and could be used successfully as a plenary activity and done via an overhead or white board rather than on the worksheet. I like how it is set out and many of the activities have been well thought out. It does provide practice and thinking activities in an area of mathematics which students find difficult. I particularly like the set of lessons on term-to-term sequences and position-to-term sequences. I used this with a bottom set Y11 group and they have become much better at finding the nth term of a sequence since using these worksheets.
Although many teachers may have better ideas on how teach algebra themselves, it is a resource worth having a look at.
Anon (was this you?)
Key Stage 3 Developing Numeracy: Algebra - Hilary Koll and Steve Mills
Published by A&C Black @ £17.99
Year 7: 0 713664711
Year 8: 0 71366472X
Year 9: 0 7136 6473 8
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