How to teach mathematics better to elementary class students: tips for teachers
From primary, elementary, secondary to senior secondary classes, mathematics is always an academic subject for students to study. In secondary and senior secondary classes, students become responsible and more active to improve themselves in mathematics but this is not the case with elementary students. They just begin their education and dealing with a subject full of numbers and figures can be challenging for them.
But basic maths understanding is very important to make students effective for the further maths they will learn in the higher classes. To make elementary students receive a clear basic maths understanding and teach them better, let us discuss some of the effective tips to follow.
Tips for teachers to teach maths better to elementary classes
1. Make kids talk
Only making students solve and copy down the solutions in their notebooks from the blackboard won’t work that well. Make your students learn vocally, participate and speak up in the class. Ask what answers they got, make them read first what you solved on the board, etc will help in this regard.
2. Teach divisibility rules clearly
The base of mathematics is all about numbers and basic operations that are addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Many times, students make many mistakes in multiplication and division because they lack an understanding of divisibility rules. Teachers must ensure to teach these rules in detail. Teach several times until you feel that all the students understood well.
By learning divisibility rules properly, students will also get a clear understanding and will be quick to differentiate between odd numbers which cannot be completely divided by two and even numbers that can be completely divided by two.
3. Make them memorize tables in chorus
We all know that learning tables in maths are very important. To multiply and divide accurately and to solve word problems better and quicker, students need to remember the tables on tips. Giving them only homework to learn the tables might not work that well in the case of all the students.
Hence, make students learn them in the class too. Learning in chorus and speaking aloud is very helpful to remember tables for longer. Together, students recite and learn tables, which makes the class interesting as well.
4. Be patient with your students
We know that maths is a little complex. And in elementary classes, students must begin with numbers and mathematical figures. In the beginning, we all make mistakes and the same goes with the elementary learners too.
They might also do the questions incorrectly, not understand in a single time, and may also feel less interested and encouraged for the maths classes. And during these situations, teachers must remember to deal with patience. Be patient with them, solve their queries, and keep motivating them to try and not give up.
5. Give short homework
Only learning maths in the classroom is not sufficient. Students have to learn at home as well to understand properly and come to the classes revised about what has been taught to them. For elementary class students, try to keep the maths homework short and precise. This will make sure that all do it properly.
Interesting activities for maths class
Abacus making
Younger students don’t enjoy and understand all the time by solving in the notebooks. Making them count, add, subtract, multiply and divide only in notebooks can be monotonous and less engaging for the students. A maths activity that is abacus making can be very interesting for elementary learning students. Making an abacus, and learning counting and numbers with the help of beads are enjoyed by students. Also, they understand better this way.
Making a number chart
Making a number chart is also an interesting activity in the maths classroom. On colorful math worksheets, using different color sketches, you can ask students to make a number chart from number 1 to 100. This activity will help you to teach students the types of numbers better. For example with a color pen, make them circle the natural numbers starting from 1,2,3,4……., 99,100.
And to teach them that the whole numbers start from 0, you can make them circle the 0 digits with a different color pen. To teach prime numbers that are the numbers divisible by one and itself, you can make students mark these digits with a different color pen, for example, (2,3,5,7,11…). This activity is quite interesting to make students understand different types of numbers by creating an attractive number chart or sheet.
Maths puzzles and quizzes
Puzzles are quite attractive and effective and make students interested in maths. Now accessing puzzles and quizzes has become a very easy task. By using an education app and online teaching sites, you access these maths quizzes with just a few clicks and taps only. These visual tools will make your maths classes interesting and more engaging for students.
Conclusion
Teaching maths to elementary classes can be a challenge for maths teachers. But having clarity of maths concepts in these classes is very important to make students effective at maths in senior classes too. By following the above-mentioned tips, teachers can teach maths better and more effectively to elementary class students. We also discussed a few activities that are abacus making, playing quizzes, and making number charts to make maths classes more interesting and engaging for students.