So now down to the nitty gritty… What Mental Math Calculation Strategies do you need to cover in Year 2?
So you may be thinking of a ton of catchy names for strategies, but don’t worry about that, and don’t get bogged down in catchy names. Students will NEVER be asked to name a strategy!
So in our list we have not cited catchy mental math strategy names. There are so many, usually linked to a commercial product, which is what causes a lot of confusion in teaching mental maths.
It’s not the name that’s important, it’s the way the numbers are manipulated that counts.
By all means use a catchy name, just make sure you include all the techniques in this list…
This is what Year 2 Teachers need to Teach:
Addition & Subtraction Mental Calculation Skills
- Counting on/ back by 1,2,3 – You don’t need to count everything, you can count on from the first number.
- Adding 10 – Making numbers friendly means making them easier to work with. It’s easier to add to 10
- Tens facts – Rainbow Facts – Knowing these means you don’t need to count.
- Commutative property of addition – e.g. turn-arounds mean you you don’t have to add on from the first number
- Inverse Relationship of Addition & Subtraction – Also this concept it’s own AC number! ACMNA029
- Partitioning – e.g. make the number friendly by rearranging the parts, changing the order
- Doubles – double 3, double 6 – Knowing Doubles means you don’t have to count everything.
- Near doubles – Knowing a near double means you don’t have to count everything to work it out.
- Bridging to ten – How many more to make 10 – e.g. Rainbow Facts
Division & Multiplication Mental Calculation Skills
- Doubling and halving- e.g x2 / ÷2 instead of the addition /subtraction version
- Skip counting by 2,3,5, 10 (BUT NOT ROTE Times tables Facts!) – You don’t have to count everything one by one!
- Arrays, repeated addition,
- Groups of
Fluency & Recall for Year 2:
- Number sequence 0-1000 forwards & back
- Skip counting 2,3,5,10
- Addition facts to 10
Remember to:
- Explicitly teach these strategies
- Let the kids practise the steps involved
- Discuss if there’s another way, which is the best strategy for the job?
- Make sure the Kiddos actually use the Strategy to solve problems, and not their favourite technique! Take note of the kids who revert to using an algorithm (sum) or ‘counting on’, to solve, they haven’t got it yet and need more time! Make them do it the way you’re teaching or they’ll never learn a range of strategies!
- Allow the use 10 frames & number lines to model the process of the Mental strategy. If they know the answer because they have memorised some facts then use bigger numbers!
- Allow pencil & paper jottings, it’s part of the process of learning the strategy, but NOT formal algorithms.
- Differentiate by moving the kids through solving problems using concrete materials to act out the steps of the strategy to using abstract “doing it in the head” maths.