Rich maths tasks are a big part of our maths programmes and are important for several key reasons. These tasks are designed to engage students in meaningful, challenging, and thought-provoking learning experiences that help build a strong foundation in mathematics.
So what is a rich maths task ?
Rich maths tasks are tasks designed to be flexible and open-ended. They have the ability to lead to many different maths ideas and pathways and they enable us to explore a range of concepts and strategies. They are what we call 'Low floor, high ceiling". They are accessible for a range of ages, stages and mixed abilities.
These tasks encourage students to engage with mathematics in a deeper way. They allow students to start thinking more critically about numbers, patterns, and mathematical relationships. These tasks require them to problem-solve, explore multiple strategies, and reflect on their thinking in a collective way. They create many great opportunities to develop oral language skills through having to articulate their flexible thinking or questioning to understand more.
Being able to talk through a problem solving processes really does make our brains grow !!
Here are some examples of our word problems for our end of term learning celebration:
1. There are 44 kids. We have 11 apples. How would we need to cut them so that each kid has an equal share ? (What fraction of a whole is each kid going to get?)
2. We have small groups of 6 kids. We have a cookie each and 36 jellybeans. How many will each kid get ?
3. We have made mousetraps. (1 piece of toast with cheese) They are cut into 1/4s. We have 44 1/4s. How many slices of bread do we need ?
How would our numbers change if we had 1/2s ?
We used pictures to describe our thinking.
We used concrete materials - counters to help us with our equal sharing.
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