20 Maths Strategies to use in successfully Teaching Pupils

By David Leighton|March 26, 2019|Maths Interventions

With the right Maths strategies it becomes a lot easier to achieve the progress and
increased attainment we want to see for our pupils in Maths.

Tried and tested Maths strategies

All these Maths strategies are taken from our guide on how to plan, manage and teach
Maths 1-to-1 (or in small groups), an invaluable teaching resource if you’re planning on
running maths interventions in your school.

1: Build interest and rapport

Nothing captures a pupil’s imagination more than their own interests! While learning
your pupils’ hobbies and favourite pastimes can be time-consuming, it should happen
naturally over the course of the year. You can then use this knowledge to personalise
classroom explanations.
While you cannot personalise for every child, engaging children with fun real life maths
activities and is a great start.

2. Know your pupils and your resources

This should be the bread and butter of teaching for interventions (and in general). If
you’re not sure if a maths resource is pitched at the right level for your pupil(s), then you
need to find out.
Before intervention, look at previous session data or pupil profiles. Are there any areas
you should be aware of, such as EAL, dyscalculia, ‘struggles with times tables’, etc?
We advise you tally this against the intervention resources and make notes against any
potential areas of difficulty, or likely misconceptions. With a class of 30 it can be more
tricky to ensure you’re aware of every misconception. We recommend using diagnostic
assessments wherever possible at the start and end of every topic.
3. Recap prior learning
Particularly in Maths, where learning needs to build upon previous learning and
foundation concepts, recapping prior knowledge is essential. When teaching pupils
through our specialist Maths intervention, our tutors always create a linking question
from past lessons to kick-start learning in a new one.
This can save precious time and ensure you never try to teach a new concept to a class
that they’re simply not ready for.

4. Share lesson objectives to improve maths progress

Don’t assume that just showing your class the learning objectives will make them
understand them. Our tutors do this by; asking pupils to identify keywords they don’t
understand, asking open-ended questions such as ‘what is the difference’ and ‘what do
you think of’, and discussing how lesson objectives link to prior learning.
Discussing lesson objectives is much better for retention than just stating them.

5. Teach key maths vocabulary

If a pupil does not understand key maths vocabulary, it is important to get them up to
speed before undertaking new learning. To address any misunderstanding, our tutors
will often get pupils to describe maths keywords in their own words before they start a
topic. Plus if pupils are struggling they will simplify keywords and, for example, discuss
‘sharing’ instead of ‘division’.

6. Use AfL to adjust pitch and pace

Where possible, learning should be paced to the needs of the pupil(s). This is as simple
as moving quickly through content that the pupil understands, and slowing down to
expand or explain a concept that they’re not getting.
The key element is not to move on from content that a pupil is yet to secure, regardless
of how much time you spend on it.

7. Personalise learning and link questions to pupils’ interests

Personally relevant problems are way more fun to solve. Posing a question in the
context of the pupil’s name, or their favourite animal, is likely to increase their
engagement.
Use the pupil’s name, favourite animal, or interests to create personally relevant Maths
problems for them to solve. Plenty of maths activities you can use to personalise
learning to pupils’ interest such as this football maths lesson, this Science in Maths
activity or a KS2 maths investigation into famous mathematicians for International
Women’s Day.

8. Create more opportunities for pupil talk

Wherever possible, encourage active learning and promote discussion rather than
lecturing. Short attention spans are an ever-present hurdle and classroom discussion
keeps students from zoning out. Plus it enhances metacognitive development.

9. Use ‘Concrete Pictorial Abstract’ method

The maths mastery method of using CPA is a staple of many Maths teachers’ toolkit.
Use real objects to build the pupils’ foundations for conceptual understanding, and
follow up with pictorial representations that help them freely conceptualise a problem.
This technique is tried and tested and using it enables pupils to grasp more challenging
content quickly and effectively.

10. Use variation to improve Maths progress

There are two stages of this. Conceptual variation, which shows pupils different ideas
that underpin a Mathematical concept, can be framed using questions such as ‘what’s
the same?’ and ‘what’s different?’ between different representations. It helps pupils
distinguish the essential and obscure characteristics of a Maths concept.
Procedural variation, which is more useful for multi-step operations and comparing
successive procedures (e.g. calculating two different sets of numbers), can be framed
as questions such as ‘what do you notice?’ and ‘is there a relationship between?’

11. Frame questions in a real world context

Connecting topics to maths in the real world makes them more memorable and
engaging. This should be done as often as possible and our tutors are expected to
connect all Maths learning to real life, even in more abstract topics!
For example, if a tutor is teaching rounding up to 1 million, they make look at different
populations in towns or cities or ask pupils to round up the total of people in their
hometown.

12. Vary approaches to questions

There’s a big difference between learning a method and gaining real understanding.
Our tutors always teach multiple ways to approach the same problem. For example
when teaching rounding tutors can use a number line, or ask pupils to simply use the
relevant columns to inform their rounding.

13. Move from scaffolding to independent practice

Learning should be structured with gradually decreasing support: from scaffolding to
independent learning and finally to stretching. In our intervention, tutors always model
answers and show pupils the steps to success before asking them to answer a
question.
Moreover, when moving towards the plenary of a lesson, our tutors provide multiple
opportunities for pupils to work independently and extend their own learning.
14. Use deeper questioning strategies to help pupils progress in Maths
We all know verbal reasoning plays a large part in improving metacognition, but it is the
quality of a discussion is what counts, not the quantity!
Encourage quality pupil talk by effective questioning in Maths like ‘how did you get to
this answer?’ and ‘how would I extend this question?’ This also addresses the three
main aims of the national curriculum: fluency, reasoning and problem-solving.

15. Use bar-modelling techniques

Bar-modelling is taking the primary Maths world by storm for a reason. From routine
calculations such as 4 + 3, to more complex multi-step SATs problems, they are a
fantastic learning aid as they show the inner workings of Maths problems. Here are 25
word based problem solving questions with bar models to get you started.

Above: An example of our tutors using bar models to aid learning in a 1-to-1 Maths
intervention session.

16. Nurture a growth mindset to nurture Maths progress

Research clearly demonstrates that, compared to other subjects, pupils are most likely
to believe they won’t succeed at Maths. To build that crucial confidence our tutors
always praise the effort a pupil puts in, rather than the pupil.
We find phrases like ‘you found a really good way to do that!’, or ‘I can tell you’ve been
practising’, really improve motivation and attitude towards Maths.

17. Provide a range of strategies and next steps

Just as linking from previous concepts gives pupils a sense of familiarity, linking to
future concepts ensures that pupils don’t get “lost” in learning. This is why tutors always
signpost the learning in any given lesson.
Signposting can be as simple as telling pupils that ‘we’re going to move on to a
rounding numbers to a million, it’ll use the same strategies as rounding to ten thousand,
but it’s more of a challenge’. This keeps pupils engaged and on track.

18. Encourage metacognition to encourage Maths progress

Metacognition should be an integral part of lessons and pupils should frequently
assessing their own learning. One way to do this is to focus the plenary on what was
learnt that day and, more importantly, how it was learnt.
You can do this in lots of different topics within KS2 maths – we find it particularly
helpful in helping to teach and recall times tables too.

19. Reward, praise and encourage the pupil

Praise is a great confidence-builder, and corrections can be incorporated constructively
within praise. For example, ‘it’s okay that you’ve made a mistake but it’s important that
you learn from it. This is especially crucial with pupils who may have less Maths
confidence than their peers.

20. Teach the teacher

To be effective, pupil talk requires proper structure and expectations. One technique we
use is to ask a pupil to teach back to the tutor (towards the end of the lesson). It is the
ultimate test of understanding.
It’s particularly effective in 1-to-1 settings, where the pupil is under less pressure than in
a group. However, when used as a group activity (with more confident pupils doing the
teaching) it can be effective in a classroom setting.