Mathematics Workshop
for P1 and P2 Parents
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AGENDA
• 9.30 am
Workshop Part 1 – Solving Word
Problems Using Different ProblemSolving Heuristics
• 10.15 am Workshop Part 2 – Play, Learn and Bond
by Dr Rosalind Phang
• 11 am
Home Sweet Home
Solving Word Problems
Using Different ProblemSolving Heuristics
Workshop Approach
1. Look For A Pattern
2. Draw a Diagram
3. Draw a Model
 Part-Whole Model
 Comparison Model
 Multiple-concept model
4. Guess and Check
Steps to Problem Solving
Check
Do
Understand
Plan
Look for a Pattern
Look for a Pattern
Study the series of pattern shown below.
Figure 1
+2
+2
+2
Figure 2
Figure 3
7
There are ______
circles in Figure 4.
Figure 4
Look for a Pattern
The shapes below form a pattern.
Draw the next shape.
Set 1
Set 2
Look for a Pattern
Complete the number pattern shown below :
4 1
19, 16, 13
__, 10, 7, __,
-3
-3
-3
-3
-3
-3
862, 867, 863, 868, 864, 869, 865
___
+5
-4
+5
-4
+5
-4
Look for a Pattern
Look at the circles below.
a) How many circles will there be in the 4th pattern?
b) How many circles will there be in the 5th pattern?
?
Pattern 1
Pattern 2
Pattern 3
Pattern 4
?
Pattern 5
Pattern 1
Pattern 2
Pattern 3
Pattern 4
Pattern 4 : 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10
Pattern 5 : 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 15
Pattern 5
Look for a Pattern
The following figures are made up of identical dots.
Study the pattern below carefully
Figure number
Number of
dots
1
2
3
4
5
1
3
5
7
9
…..
…..
15 dots are used to form one of the figures.
What is the Figure Number?
?
15
Figure
number
Number of
dots
1
2
3
4
5
1
3
5
7
9
+2
+2
+2
…..
…..
+2
Figure 5  9
Figure 6  9 + 2 = 11
Figure 7  11 + 2 = 13
Figure 8  13 + 2 = 15
15 dots are used to form Figure 8.
?
15
Draw a Diagram
Draw a Diagram
front
Jun Kai is standing in a queue to buy tickets.
There are 3 boys in front of him and 5 girls
behind him.
How many children are there in the queue?
Jun Kai
3+1+5=9
9 children in the queue.
There are _____
Draw a Diagram
In a queue, Caili is 7th from the front and 2nd from the back.
Muthu is 6th from the back.
How many people are there between Caili and Muthu?
Caili
Back
front
Muthu
3 people between Caili and Muthu.
There are ____
Draw a Diagram
There are 5 lamp posts along a stretch of road. In
between every 2 lamp posts, there are 3 trees. How
many trees are there along that stretch of road?
(Hint : Draw a diagram to help you.)
3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 12
12 trees along the road.
There are ____
Draw a Diagram
3 rows of boys lined up at the basketball court. There was an equal
number of boys in each row. Bob was in one of the rows. In his row,
he was the third from the left and the fourth from the right.
How many boys were there altogether?
(Hint: You can draw a diagram)
Bob
Left
Right
1 row  2 + 1 + 3 = 6 boys
3 rows  6 + 6 + 6 = 18 boys
To enhance students’ ability
in solving word problems
To help students visualize
abstract mathematical
relationship
Draw a Model
To make students read
the question again
To use pictorial
representation
to solve problems
PART WHOLE MODEL
part
part
whole
COMPARISON MODEL
A
B
?
MULTIPLE-CONCEPT MODEL
A
B
This type of
model will only
be done from
P3 onwards
Ben has 7 stamps. Ali gives him 2 more
stamps.
How many stamps does Ben have now?
+
7
2
7
2
9
There are 15 boys and 22 girls in a party.
How many children are there altogether?
15
22
?
15 + 22 = 37
There are 30 children in a class.
14 of them are boys.
How many of them are girls?
30
Boys
14
30 – 14 = 16
Girls
?
There are 12 boys and 27 girls in a class.
How many more girls than boys are there?
12
?
B
G
27
27 – 12 = 15
Wendy has 12 coins.
She has 3 fewer coins than Carol.
How many coins does Carol have?
12
W
3
C
?
12 + 3 = 15
Betty saved $42. Meilin saved $17 less than Betty.
(a) How much did Meilin save?
(b) How much did the two girls save altogether?
$42
B
$17
M
?
(a) $42 – $17 = $25
(b) $42 + $25 = $67
?
Guess and Check
(“Trial & Error”??)
Steps
- Understand the Question
- Start with the table
- Pick a number to start – usually the middle number
- Solve the problem
- Check the answer
Guess and Check
Melissa bought 12 shirts and blouses altogether.
There are 5 buttons on each shirt and 4 buttons on each
blouse. There were a total of 56 buttons.
How many shirts and blouses did she buy?
Shirts
Number of
buttons
Blouses
Number
Total number of
of buttons buttons
Check
56 buttons?
6
6 x 5 = 30
6
6 x 4 = 24
30 + 24 = 54
x
7
7 x 5 = 35
5
5 x 4 = 20 35 + 20 = 55
x
8
8 x 5 = 40
4
4 x 4 = 16
40 + 16 = 56
√
She bought _____shirts
8
and _____
4 blouses.
What is number sense?
Zhenghua Primary School
Definition
Students are said to have strong number sense if they can …
think and reason flexibly with numbers,
use numbers to solve problems,
spot unreasonable answers,
understand how numbers can be taken apart and put
together in different ways,
see connections among operations,
figure mentally, and
make reasonable estimates.
Marilyn Burns
Dozen Ten-Frames &
Blank Ten-Frame
Number Sense and Place Value
A sense of ten
Ten-frames are two-by-five rectangular frames into which counters are
placed to illustrate numbers less than or equal to ten.
(useful devices for developing number sense within the context of ten)
Place value
'Ten' is of course the building block of our base 10 numeration system.
(Young children can usually 'read' two-digit numbers long before they
understand the effect the placement of each digit has on its numerical
value.)
Note: Ten-frames can provide a first step into understanding two-digit
numbers simply by the introduction of a second frame. Placing the second
frame to the left of the first frame, and later introducing digit cards, will
further assist the development of place value understanding.
How heavy is this object? (Mass)
• What things weigh 1 gram?
Answer: Common household items that weigh
approximately 1 gram include a paper clip, the cap of a
ballpoint pen, one-quarter teaspoon of sugar, a raisin
and a thumbtack.
• What things weigh 1 kilogram?
Answer: An unabridged dictionary, a medium melon, a
litre of water, a pineapple and a small laptop.
Consider the following type of question:
How much is the water in the container?
(Volume)
Some past PSLE questions
1. Which of the following is likely to be the total mass of 8
one-dollar coins? (Mass)
(i) 6 g
(ii) 60 g
(iii) 600 g
(iv) 6000 g
2. Three containers with some water are shown below. Which
container has the most water and which container has the
least? (Volume)
(i) A (Most) B (Least) (ii) A (Most) C (Least)
(iii) C (most) A (Least) (iv) C (Most) B (Least)
What are some common errors
made by our students?
First, we look at some keywords used in Primary 1 and Primary 2
Mathematics.
More
More than
Less/Fewer
Less than, Fewer than
Left
Altogether
Common errors
John has 16 marbles.
He has 5 marbles more than Ali.
How many marbles does Ali have?
16 + 5 = 21
16 - 5 = 11
Common errors
Mary has 10 paper dolls.
She has 3 paper dolls fewer than Lily.
How many paper dolls does Lily have?
We should ask – Who has fewer and who has more?
10 - 3 = 7
10 + 3 = 13
Common errors
After giving Siti 6 sweets, Mary had 8 sweets left.
How many sweets did Mary have at first?
We should ask – does Mary have more or less at first?
8 -6=2
8 + 6 = 14
Tips for Parents to help children at home
Relate Mathematics to everyday activities
 Let child handle money during purchases
 Use analog clocks and watches and ask child to
tell time
Provide Manipulatives
 Counters, macaroni, coins, cubes
 Number cards, UNO cards, dice
 Lego blocks