Year 6 - Maths reasoning skills
12th March 2021
Year 6 children have returned to school full of enthusiasm and excitement. They have relished opportunities to work collaboratively and to support each other in progressing their ideas. By working on a collective task, they have contributed to a common overall outcome.
In Maths this week, tasks have promoted talk and interaction resulting in the development of key vocabulary to explain and justify their methods. This exploratory talk has not focused just on the 'correct' answer; instead children have listened evaluatively to a variety of solutions in their work on percentages. For example, they have found a range of strategies in solving just one calculation, ‘How can you find 37.5% of £80? Is there another way? Which technique is most efficient? Can you perform the calculation mentally or with just a few jottings? Which method is less likely to lead to errors?’
Children have used their reasoning to explore mathematical statements and considered examples and counter-examples to prove their thinking. For example, ‘Is the following statement always, sometimes or never true: ‘In a sale, every price was reduced by 25%. After the sale, every price was increased by 25%. So prices went back to where they started’. By testing their thinking with specific examples, the children were able to challenge their own assumptions as well as those of others. This example resulted in some wonderful mastery learning, collaborative work and discussion.