PARENT FORUM TUESDAY 12 TH MAY PROBLEM SOLVING

At Resurrection our vision for mathematics is: To provide targeted, challenging, open- ended experiences which develop real life problem-solving and questioning skills that are vital for building students’ understanding, engagement and confidence.

At Resurrection our lessons are designed to: encourage students to become self-motivated, confident learners through inquiry and active participation in challenging and engaging experiences. develop students who are successfully numerate problem-solvers in everyday life teach the rules of mathematics and allow them time to practise these rules in a variety of ways Work in partnership with the parents. Students learn maths at home too, whether it's helping with cooking, playing board games and shopping Reduce the fear of maths that many students acquire

WHAT IS PROBLEM SOLVING? Everyone uses problem solving everyday 1.How much milk do I need? 2 or 4litres? 2.Should I leave for work at 7.00 or 7.15? Which road will get me there the quickest? 3.How much change will I get back? What coins and notes will be used? 4.Is it best value to buy the Coles home brand cereal or Weetbix? 5.I have a quarter of tank of petrol will it last me to the end of my trip? These examples all require problem solving.

Problem Solving in the Classroom Use concrete materials. It is hands on. Make math problems real Work in groups Talk about solutions -look at a variety of strategies to solve the same problem. A number of methods can be used to solve the problem Successful problem solvers use different strategies 1.Check and guess 2.Make a table or chart 3.Draw a picture or diagram 4.Act out the problem 5.Find a pattern or rule 6.Check for relevant 7.Work backwards

HOW IS PROBLEM SOLVING USED IN THE CLASSROOM? Foundation- games, cards, blocks, geoboards, measuring Grade 1/2- problem solving tasks and investigations Grade 3/4- task centre kits Grade 5/6- technology based problem solving activities iPads &Computers