Mathematics Resources for Secondary Schools
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Essential Resources has an extensive range of mathematics resources for secondary teachers. These provide them with maths activities such as daily starters, task cards and Maths Problems and Investigations.
Many of the maths resources outline how they align with the curriculum and incorporate differentiated activities. Your workload as a teacher will be lightened.
Our maths teaching resources cover a variety of topics. Explore secondary mathematics number, algebra, geometry, measurement and statistics resources.
What secondary mathematics topics do students cover?
The secondary mathematics topics students cover are:
- number | mātauranga tau – representing, describing and comparing quantities
- algebra | taurangi – identifying and using generalisations, patterns and relationships
- measurement | ine – quantifying phenomena in the world by estimating, measuring and using units
- space | mokowā – understanding the shape, position, orientation and transformation of objects
- statistics | tauanga – interpreting and using data and its contexts to understand uncertainty and make predictions
- probability | tūponotanga – quantifying chance, dealing with expectation, and using evidence to identify how likely events are to occur.
Each is a context of mathematics and statistics in the refreshed New Zealand curriculum. These are the topics students are expected to “know” when exploring the big ideas.
What are ideas for daily maths starters?
Ideas for daily maths starters can be found in Building Maths Fitness Book 2 – a publication suitable for lower secondary school.
The secondary maths resource contained 100 daily maths starters for 20 weeks. The task cards become progressively harder through the weeks.
Each card has 20 problems and follows the same format. These provide easy ideas as maths starters.
For example, for questions one to ten, there is a number and operation at the top (eg, x 2.5). Below is a list of ten numbers students use to practice their basic facts (eg, 74 x 2.5, 17 x 2.5…).
In the next four questions, students practice their addition, subtraction, multiplication and division skills respectively (eg, 56mm + 82cm + 2cm = answer in cm).
Problems 15 to 19 are a mix-and-match where students reinforce their prior learning (eg, what is 75% of $9200?).
Last is an engaging maths problem for students to solve. This encourages them to use logic and reasoning.
Task cards like these make great maths starters because they are designed to be completed relatively quickly and reinforce prior learning. Secondary maths teachers – use these ideas to create your own maths starters or save yourself time by purchasing Building Maths Fitness.
What mathematics resources for secondary teachers do you recommend?
The mathematics resources for secondary teachers we recommend are:
Smart about Mathematics by Caroline Mulholland
Discover a series of smart maths resources filled with bright ideas. The activities support students in growing mathematically in the key topics of measurement, geometry, statistics and probability.
Clear learning intentions are linked to the New Zealand Curriculum to support teachers.
SOLO Taxonomy in Mathematics by Pam Hook, Courtney Gravett and Mitchell Howard
Get your students thinking like a mathematician. Use SOLO Taxonomy as a framework to represent students’ level of mathematical understanding and to prompt their next steps. In this way, students continually seek to deepen their knowledge and skills.
Maths Problem Solving for Higher Achieving Students by Ian Bull
Challenge your students with maths activities designed to provide enrichment and extension.
Each maths resource is divided into three sections. The first takes a scaffolded approach. Next, it encourages open-ended problem-solving. Lastly, word problems strengthen the link between literacy and numeracy.
Purchase these essential mathematic resources for secondary teachers.