TES Top 10 Resources: Engaging Maths Resources

The following collection of resources have been assembled by the TES Maths Panel. They can be downloaded for free by registering on the TES website.

I’m always on the lookout for exciting ways to teach mathematics. A resource that can engage a class and make even the dullest of topics fun to learn and teach can take a while to find, but look no further. The resources below are just some of the best engaging resources the TES Connect has to offer mathematics teachers.

Top 10 resources:

1.  Darts Project (number and geometry project)

Age range: 11-14

This darts project resource has a construction activity for students and differentiated challenge cards to work through. Check out this TES Mathematics blog post for more information on using this resource in your classroom.

 2.  Algebra simplifying trail

Age range: 11-14

Any resource that combines code-breaker activities, competition and the ability for students to get up and roam around the classroom linking clues together to solve a problem, is always a winner.

3.  Surds -post it challenge

Age range: 14-16

Before your students enter the classroom, stick the questions included in this resource on your whiteboard under the three given headings. This is a fast paced activity involving students working with one another to check solutions and discuss answers.

4.  Probability washing line t-shirts

Age range: 11-14

Teaching probability is one of mathematics teachers’ favourite topics. Given the choice, it’s one that is regularly chosen for interview lessons as there’s so much that can be done with the topic. One of my favourite probability lessons (other than the horse race activity) is the washing line task, which involves your students placing different scenarios, written on t-shirts, along the probability scaled washing line.

5.  QR Code puzzleAge range: 8-14

A worksheet incorporating the increasingly popular QR codes. This worksheet has a set of basic number-based questions for students to work through, shading in boxes to complete a QR code as they go. Students love using their Smartphones in lessons and this allows them to do it in the desired way. If their QR code doesn’t scan they have to go back through their workings and check they have shaded in the squares correctly.

6.  Calculating 10% of a quantity settler

Age range: 11-16

This is just one of a whole host of similar ‘settler’ activities that are available from the mathsbox website and many of these are available on the TES Connect. Students are motivated to be the first to reach the target number before their peers and there are lots for them to do before they get to the target number.

7.  Interactive times table game

Age range: 6-14

All students, regardless of age, need to practice their timestables. Students have one minute to answer as many multiple choice times tables as they can. The competitive nature of the task is will be motivated to not only beat their own score, but those of their peers.

Top tip: involve your teaching assistants or other teachers who are free to really get the students excited.

8.  Reflect, rotate, translate jigsaw

Age range: 11-16

The resources are well produced and involve students having to uncover key words once they have transformed given shapes on the worksheets. Again, there is a desire for students to be the first to unveil the word by piecing together the puzzle, and there will be a lot of looking around the room to see how their peers are getting on.

9.  Substitution Game

Age range: 8-16

Top trumps are still really popular with students and this is my favourite top trump resource I have found on the TES Connect (check out the TES Maths Top Trumps Collection). The characters on these cards are engaging by themselves but when you introduce the numbers to substitute into the expressions students will be frantically working out which category will give them the best chance of winning.

Top tip: Have rounds of 5 mins each, timed on the board with an online timer.

10.  Maths relay races

Age range: 11-16

Relay races are a great way of doing revision with GCSE classes and engaging students in their learning. Your students, perhaps in teams of 3 or 4, will be determined to be the group that gets to the end of the relay questions the quickest.

Top Tip: To increase competition between groups, have a chart written on the board or a spreadsheet open on your IWB that you update as the groups complete questions. This will provide a visual representation of how the class is progressing and will allows groups to see who is ahead.

Paul Collins, TES Maths panel

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