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Focusing on key mathematical ideas
See B2; A; F1; F2; Y1; T1; T2; M1; M2; M3; S1; S2; S3; J1; J2; N2.
As well as whatever the lesson is overtly about, in many lessons key mathematical ideas emerged from examples and discussion. These ideas were either deliberately included, or were recognised by teachers when they cropped up and attention drawn to them. In B2 commutativity of multiplication was observed, and in F1 non-commutativity of ratio was discussed briefly. In Y1 the acts of comparing and precise description were central to the lesson. Comparison was also a theme in F1 and F2. In T1 accuracy was flagged, with the intention of then showing a need for a formula which would give a more accurate measurement. Searching for relationships was a subplot in T2 and was overt in M1 and M2. In M1, 2 and 3 the key idea was the shift from additive to multiplicative ways of seeing number relationships. The fact that the same mathematical idea can be expressed in different ways cropped up in F2, M2 and N2. In S2 the teacher is clearly aware of the power of comparing different representations, and in S1, 2 and 3 we observe a subplot about understanding the continuity of number. In A there is an interlude in which they work on place value. In J1 and J2 the subplot is to develop a reasoning approach to geometrical figures, and to express this in appropriate ways.
