Additional information
by Tracy M. Ashbridge (Author)
Mathtastic is an off the shelf intervention for teaching number sense. A book for Learning Support Teachers as an intervention at Tier 2 and 3 for students requiring additional support learning number sense skills. The book has an explicit teaching section plus lots of games and activities to practice the skills to fluency. Mathtastic Foundation Level focuses on teaching foundation numbers 1-6 including counting and number formation. The concepts of addition and subtraction are taught and practiced through both and worded problems and number-based. Patterning, doubling and sharing skills are also included as these are key skills. Levels 1,2 & 3 follow on from this and are also available for purchase. Each module can be used as a lesson or can be split over several lessons depending on the time you have available and the speed the student works through the number sense strategies.
Lesson components:
Thinking problems - these are designed to be open ended and challenge the student to think mathematically.
Subitizing - this is the skills of recognising a set of objects without counting and is a key skill which is not always established in students with difficulties in maths.
Counting patterns and objects - students need to develop a sense of the number line.
Number sense - each session there is a different focus working through the 8 areas of number sense. These are explained and modelled before applying the number sense concept to problems.
Games - many students with math difficulties can get anxious about maths and practicing the skills through games is a less threatening way to gain the repetition they need. The games have been chosen to specifically practice the skill in focus and also allow for reasoning skills.
Word problems - students need to apply their knowledge in problems. In the Foundation Level only addition: part part whole and joining are taught. For subtraction only separate result unknown is taught,
Number problems - each session there are number problems related to the focus area and for modules 7 and 8 spaced retrieval of focus areas is included.
