The Educator Magazine U.K. Sept-Dec 2022 - Magazine - Page 46
Many of the objectives in the primary
maths National Curriculum rely on
children having a strong knowledge
of multiplication and division facts
in order to mentally calculate with
speed and accuracy. Times Tables Ninja
is designed to help children to learn
and apply the multiplication facts up
to 12 x 12 and develop the skills which
will enable them to access the range of
concepts introduced across Key Stages
1 and 2. Each chapter focuses on one
times table, starting with a range of
fluency questions before moving on
to application exercises such as
simplifying fractions, scaling recipes
and calculating perimeters of shapes
These exercises are all tightly linked
to the National Curriculum and allow
children to practise the skill while only
focusing on one times table, e.g. in the
five times table chapter, the equivalent
fractions questions will rely solely on
knowledge of multiplying and dividing
by, e.g. 3/12 = 15/. Once the
multiplication and division facts
have been practised individually, the
final chapter provides an opportunity
to explore the same activities but with
mixed tables. Times Tables Ninja is a
versatile resource which could be used
in maths lessons, as homework or
as part of a times-tables-based
intervention.
Arithmetic is a core part of
mathematics that involves the
properties of numbers and how they
can be manipulated using the four
operations. In order to access the reasoning and mastery objectives set out
in the National Curriculum, it is essential that children can confidently and
fluently add, subtract, multiply
and divide given integers, decimal
numbers and fractions.
The Arithmetic Ninja series has been
created to support the daily planning,
teaching and assessment of arithmetic
across the whole year for every year
group in a clear and consistent way.
Each book builds on the learning from
the previous year group by revisiting
objectives before moving on to the
current year’s objectives. A content
map can be found at the front of each
book, providing an overview of which
skills are introduced or recapped at
different points in the term. Each day
provides three differentiated sets of
ten mixed questions, which each have
a specific purpose to support all pupils.
Grasshopper questions are designed
for children working below the
expected standard and so require daily
opportunities to practise the content
from three half-terms prior to
age-related expectation, helping
children to build confidence and not
only catch up, but keep up too!
Shinobi questions are designed to
take children beyond age-related
expectations by helping them to build
links and make connections between
different related facts. For example,
once 9 x 8 = 72 has been introduced,
subsequent questions may include 0.8
x 9 or 0.8 x 0.9. These styles of
questions should allow teachers to
introduce pattern exploring and
discussion around other related facts
and to dive deeper into how different
concepts relate and can be presented
in different ways.
Grand Master questions focus on
providing children with a greater
level of challenge, with questions
bridging mathematical content up
to three half-terms beyond the
age-related expectation. Questions
at this level will include more varied
representations, including unknown
numbers. The connection building
aspect of Shinobi is developed
further in Grand Master by challenging
children to take the patterns that
they have beenintroduced to so far
and explore them at a deeper level.
Each week also includes a bonus Ninja
Challenge to further push children at
all levels. The exercises in each book
get progressively harder each week,
but also refer back to previous
content covered. This ensures that
there is a regular opportunity to recall
and practise calculations that will be
continually used and referred to across
the primary maths curriculum. When
used as a whole school approach,
arithmetic knowledge can build across
each term and each year group and
enable children to gain the skills
needed to access the problems and
puzzles that they will come across as
part of SATs papers, but also in their
daily maths lessons.
Both Times Tables Ninja and
Arithmetic Ninja provide ways to
embed the teaching of mental maths
calculations in a simple, consistent
way that will provide children with the
secure knowledge needed to access
word problems and complex puzzles.
It’s teaching simplified, learning
amplified.