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What is it?
This resource has been designed for primary maths lessons, but do not be fooled – this is something that could (and should!) be used in all maths classrooms across the land! This book includes ideas for questions that could be used in a maths lesson (or at any point in the school day) to inspire some mathematical thinking in your students. Each idea is followed by a more detailed explanation, and then examples to show how it could be used across several maths topics. There are classics in there, such as “True/False” and “Odd One Out”, but also some that I was not as familiar with. I am a now a particular fan of “Correct, Almost, No Chance”, and “What’s the same and what’s different?”, both of which are incredibly versatile, with the potential to promote deep thinking across multiple topics.

How can it be used?
Questions like these are ideal when reviewing topics, or for providing some extension material to students.Take “What’s the same and what’s different?”, for example. This could be used at the end of a unit on quadrilaterals, challenging the students to think about and discuss what is the same and what is different about a square, a rhombus and a rectangle. Similarly, following a unit on decimals, students could be presented with 3.45, 3 and 2.9 and asked the same question. I would also be tempted to print out these ideas and either stick them up around the room or have them close at hand when I need inspiration for a question during a lesson. Likewise, these are ideal to use when planning lessons to ensure your questions really get students thinking.

Thanks so much for sharing
Craig Barton

Download: 50 Maths Questions
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