Number Squares
This activity has been seen around for some time in different
forms, I really do not know if I was the first to use it, I guess
not, but I started using it when I was involved in the C.A.N.
[Calculator Aware Number Curriculum] project. I found that year 2
children really enjoyed it and did a great deal of work in doing
many calculations without really realising it. Quite a few of the
children used pentagons and hexagons to vary it a bit. With years 3
and 4 I find that using ``differences'' instead of adding leads to
quite a lot of interest when it comes to predicting what the final
result will be. With the brighter children of this age you can
reverse it and see if they can come up with what the starting
numbers could be to produce a certain specified result in the
middle. Asking them how they would work this out leads to some
interesting insights into children's methods of thinking through
addition and subtraction. At the top end of Key Stage 2 the
children could try the reverse when it is addition taking place.
The other thing is to try to predict the result in the middle when
you have certain prescribed starting numbers.