How to Keep Maths Skills Ticking Over While Teaching a New Unit
When I first started teaching, I was in a school where we used 2-3 week units to teach different maths concepts. Every few weeks we just moved onto a new unit. Sometimes they built on previously taught concepts – units like, ‘Measurement 2’. But in general, we marched through the curriculum like it was a one-way street.
Looking back now, I realise I landed in the classroom without any idea of how to structure maths in a real life classroom. It’s not just teach a unit of work, and then teach the next unit of work. Every day, your students need practice with Number and daily revision of knowledge and skills already taught.
The Term 3 Realisation: We Hadn’t Revisited Earlier Maths Concepts
I must have been in my third term of teaching, when I started to look at my tracking document, where I had marked off concepts taught and learned, and realised we hadn’t returned to revise any of the concepts. I started to question myself and wondered if my students were going into the next year of schooling ready to announce to their next teacher, ‘We didn’t learn that!”.
I was also woefully aware than Term 3 was possibly too late to realise this, and so I started a frantic campaign to revise every topic. Teaching in Australia, Term 4 is the last term of the school year, and falls during Halloween and Christmas periods, so you can bet my students completed every Halloween and Christmas maths worksheet available on TPT. That was how I ‘fixed’ the problem, but it didn’t have to be that way!
Today, I realise that my mentors and colleagues around me didn’t know what I didn’t know. They didn’t know that I wasn’t revising – I was just marching on through the curriculum. I also think that this is something that should have been systemised. Why didn’t my Head of Curriculum or mentor teacher, or Principal tell me how to run my maths block? Or at least ask me HOW I was running my maths block?
How I Built Daily Maths Review Into My Teaching Routine
Fast forward a few years, and I created my own Daily Maths Review to ensure that my students were getting a mix of concepts throughout the year. At first, I started making these once per week, before realising that I would be supporting myself much better if I created them once, for use all year.
And so my Term-long Daily Maths Review Slides were born! I included Number every day, and included the different maths concepts throughout, with Statistics and Data once every 14 days. This really worked for me and my students, so I shared with a colleague who was also struggling, and she loved them too!
A Maths Morning Routine That Helped Me Manage the Start of the Day
Not only had I solved my problem of revision, but I had also created a nice morning routine for myself. I would put the Daily Maths Slide on the board, and have a helper put everyone’s maths exercise books on their tables, so when students entered the classroom, they went straight to their desk and started their maths for the day.
This freed up my time to manage with start of school emergencies that pop up, parents at the door, a roll to be marked etc. It actually was a dream for my own routine. I added in some quiet classical music, opened the curtains for natural light, and had some lemongrass essential oil diffusing for clarity of thought, and my students thrived.
Here’s the extra bit of information I left out – I had a student who found mornings difficult, and this morning routine helped him immensely.
Using Daily Maths Review for Discussion and Formative Assessment
Once students started to finish the slide for the day, they moved onto fast finisher work until we were all mostly finished, and then we discussed and corrected our answers together. I treated these slides as a teaching opportunity and as formative assessment.
On very busy days, or on relief days when I wasn’t there, the students could take turns showing their solutions to the class. It was great to see students develop their confidence in solving the problems in front of the class.
Try Daily Maths Review Slides for Prep to Year 6
If you are looking for a way to ensure your students are getting consistent exposure to the maths concepts that really matter, why not try my daily maths slides for yourself? They are available from Prep/Foundation to Year 6, and the upper grades even come with answer booklets, so students can independently mark their work.
How to Revisit Old Skills while Teaching a New Unit
Start with a few questions from topics students have already learned. Include Number regularly, bring other strands back over time, then spend a few minutes discussing answers. If several students miss the same question, make a note to revisit that skill. The new unit can still take up the main part of the lesson.
Explore Daily Maths Review Slides for Prep to Year 6:
