Module 3 Calculating
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Can I identify the stages involved in a two-step problem?

Example review questions

  • I cut two 30-cm pieces from 1 m of ribbon. How much ribbon is left? Wayne starts to solve this problem by working out 30 × 2 = 60.
    Which part of the problem does this answer? What does he need to do next?
  • Anna has a 50p coin and three 20p coins. How much money does she have altogether? What calculations do you need to do to work this out?
  • There are 42 cherries in a bag. 16 fall on the floor and are thrown away. Anna and Mary share the rest between them. How many cherries do they each get?
  • There are twelve 20p stamps in a sheet. If I buy a quarter of the sheet, how much does this cost? What is the first calculation you will do to solve this problem? What does this answer tell you? What will you do next?

Teaching guidance

This teaching guidance document suggests some of the key vocabulary, models, images and practical equipment that children should experience and be able to use. It also includes some teaching tips to provide a few starting points for ways of supporting children with this area of mathematics.

DOC file Can I identify the stages involved in a two-step problem? - teaching guidance | 69KB new window

Consolidation and practice

These resources are to support children in guided or independent work.

XLS file Midpoint | 37KB new window

DOC file Midpoint guide | 87KB new window

XLS file Flexible problems | 205KB new window

DOC file Shopping problems teaching prompts | 135KB new window

DOC file One-step and two-step word problems | 33KB new window

DOC file Two-step problem-solving frame | 29KB new window

 

Opportunities to use and apply

Possible contexts include:

  • real-life problems such as shopping activities, e.g. Work out what to buy and how to pay, find totals and give change.
  • number problems and puzzles, e.g. I think of a number, double it and then add 5. The answer is 31. What was my number?
  • interpreting graphs and charts, e.g. There are 31 children in this class. How many children are not represented on the pictogram?
    A pictogram displaying how children travel to school. Three children go by car. 10 children travel by bus. 10 children walk. Five children ride their bikes into school.
  • reading partly marked scales, e.g. Work out the difference between two labelled divisions, the number of intervals and the amount represented by each interval.
    A scale reading 160.

Confirming learning

Ask probing questions such as:

  • How many steps will it take to solve this problem?
    Three cups of orange juice are poured from a 1-litre carton. Each cup holds 200 ml. How much juice is left in the carton? Explain how you identified the steps and the calculations needed.
  • What calculations will you do to find the number that lies halfway between 22 and 38?
    What is the number represented by the question mark?
    A number line ranging from 22 to 38. There is one marker precisely halfway between the two numbers with a question mark beneath it.
  • John wanted to use his calculator to add 463 and 319. He entered 263 + 319 by mistake. What could he do to correct his mistake?
    1. Add 200
    2. Add 2
    3. Subtract 2
    4. Subtract 200