KS1, Starter

This starter idea focusses on 2D Shape. In particular the properties of shape and the correct use of shape related vocabulary. Like most of our mental and oral starter ideas it can be used as a group or individual activity too.

It is related to the "Target Board" activity we explored in Mental Mondays #13

Here's how this one works. You show a grid of 30 numbered shapes: Read more »

This mental and oral starter is a quick way to display a range of calculations.

Like our other mental and oral starter ideas this is easy to adapt to suit the needs and abilities of a range of children.

The idea here consists of a coloured number grid and a series of questions. We have attached a PowerPoint file with a selection of grids.

You display one such gird, like this: Read more »

This little number hunt activity could be used as a paired-starter, or as a game.

The focus is on finding trios of numbers which can be used to create addition and/or subtraction sentences.

For example, 4, 6, 10 are triples since they can be used as the basis for the following simple calculations:
  Read more »

This Mental and Oral activity is based on the properties of shape.

It is quite a simple idea, but the focus is on the correct use of vocabulary and on the children's thinking skills. Therefore, as well as being a 'thoughtful' starter, it will also generate some good assessment opportunites.

Here's how we play it: Read more »

This is a great way to get children discussing the mental strategies they use when calculating.

The idea is that the children have to follow a series of instructions to arrive at an unknown number. The image on the left shows a chain of number operations. The starting point is 2, to which 4 is added (making 6), this is then multiplied by 2 (giving 12), divided by 6 (making 2) then, finally, 1 is added (to end with 3). Read more »