Resources for mathematics

What are these resources

Students have been out of school for now almost 18 months and many studies have shown that children have suffered learning losses at various levels. The access to various forms of digital interventions have been at best unequal and a recent survey by UNICEF shows that a majority of students have not met a teacher in a 30-day period. The loss of mathematics (foundational skills) will pose a huge challenge to students, with the high load of mathematics syllabus as it is.

A recent study by APU shows that 82% of students from the classes 2-6 have lost atleast one mathematics skill from the prior school year. The learning loss in mathematics could be due to a variety of reasons including:

• lack of opportunities to practice the skill as well as acquire new skills
• lack of conceptual understanding and sufficient mastery of the skill in the first place
• loss of language skills
• emotional and psychological stresses in the child's life due to the pandemic

While there is a push for schools to reopen and there is talk of accelerated learning, it cannot be emphasized enough that lack of sufficient time to rebuild skills will be sure to adversely impact students' attainments in mathematics. It is not meaningful to think of a bridge course and try to deliver all the lessons of an entire academic year and expect students to catch up on the grade-level mathematics. It is necessary to develop resources a sequence of lessons for the core areas of school mathematics - focusing on Classes 1-6. Fluency in these areas, it is expected, will help children meet the requirements of the mathematics syllabus from Class 7 onwards.

Suggested sequence of lessons

Playing with numbers

#1 and #2 will have to be done iteratively

1. Number sense
   1. Number quantity association
   2. Familiarity with numbers
   3. Comparison and estimating
   4. Counting , grouping and place value
2. Operations on numbers
   1. Addition and subtraction
   2. Addition and subtraction with number lines
   3. Multiplication and division (with manipulatives as necessary)
3. Games for reinforcing operations
4. Worksheets for self-learning
5. Fractions
   1. Using manipulatives for introducing fractions
   2. Worksheets for practice (addition, equivalent fractions)
   3. Equal measure model of fractions
   4. Multiplication and division of fractions
6. Decimals??
7. Introduction to the idea of sets

Geometry

Playing with shapes and patterns

1. Recognize/ produce patterns
2. Tessellations
3. Tangram Puzzles
4. Paper folding to make various shapes/ solids

Lines and Angles

1. Measurements – length, angles. Point has no dimension. Line segment has a finite length; rotating lines to make angles. Measuring angles.
2. Line by itself...making a line; part of a line (on a playground, map, graph sheet, geogebra). Is there a thing called distance between two lines?
3. Parallel lines
4. Pairs of angles (rotation, complementary and supplementary angles, vertically opposite angles, linear pair)
5. Types of angles

Polygons

1. Intersecting lines (3 lines cover an area called a triangle; 4 lines cover a quadrilateral)
2. Explore the properties of triangles
   1. Angle sum property of triangles
   2. Similarity and congruence of triangles
3. Explore the properties of quadrilaterals
4. am not sure what to do with theorems?