Explain this
Toptastic Totals
How the publisher describes it:
“Our triallers loved BEAM¿s new card game. Mathematical questions on every card cover the number curriculum for Years 5 to 6 and give children practice in mental recall, calculations and flexible thinking. Each card also has an additional problem or interesting fact. Use the cards for whole class or group activities, at breaktime, for early finishers, or for children to play at home.This product is temporarily out of stock. It will be available after 31 October 2004.”
Review by Tessa Benie
In brief:
I heartily recommend Toptastics for any primary classroom as a stimulating resource that improves children’s mathematical skills in an enjoyable way.
“The cards would be very useful for an adult taking a focus group”
Toptastics are mathematical card games. Each pack gives children practise with a specific learning objective suitable for their age range e.g. order fractions and percentages for age 9-11 years. There are 6 different objectives covered for 5-7 year olds, 7-9 and 9-11. The games can be played in groups of 2 to 6 or by the whole class. So what makes this resource a worthwhile purchase?
Firstly, the team at Beam are very familiar with children’s interests and the packs reflect these with the contents ranging from dinosaurs to an amazing collection of robots. Some of the contents link with school topics e.g. Myths, Legends and Heroes, Space and Our Environment. The cards in each pack have a related word problem. Not only are children solving problems but they are also learning facts about dinosaurs, space and the environment and expanding their own interests. They gain familiarity with the names of mythical creatures and have their imaginations stimulated by seeing a large variety of cartoon characters such as those that represent Community Bears or robots.
Secondly, the multitude of problems that the children are presented with makes this resource invaluable. The problems in many cases do not just cover the single objective written on the outside of the pack but include a whole range of learning objectives. The problems challenge children to think them through e.g. Help Cipher work out how many possible combinations of the digits 1,2,3,4 there are so that he can crack the code and open the safe (age 9-11). There are some interesting questions on estimation of measurement and on vocabulary. Even though some questions are set in an imaginary context, they are still plausible.
When children answer the problem questions correctly they move on to work out their score. Scoring for younger children is straightforward while older children often have to do a calculation based on the specific learning objective of the pack. Children are motivated to find out their scores.
Thirdly, Toptastics are designed to promote good practice in Mathematics. Children are expected to check each other’s problem solving and score calculations. The cards would be very useful for an adult taking a focus group where children could be encouraged to explain their reasoning rather than just give the final solutions to the problems. Checking of calculations encourages numerical dexterity or if necessary for speed, calculator skills.
Lastly, the cards themselves are well designed. The pictures are colourful, modern looking with interesting detail. The writing for the problems and scoring is clear. The cards are robust and if a card gets lost the game can still be played. Teachers’ notes suggest several different ways to play the games.
I heartily recommend Toptastics for any primary classroom as a stimulating resource that improves children’s mathematical skills in an enjoyable way.
Tessa Benie •
Toptastic Totals
Beam Education (Nelson Thornes)
