This stimulating and comprehensive enables students to count forwards and backwards through zero using negative numbers, and to solve number problems and practical problems involving negative numbers, including using negative numbers in context. The lesson follows a step-by-step learning journey, in which children learn through: Defining, exemplifying, and understanding the basic rules of calculations involving negative numbers, through clear and simple explanations; Demonstrating their understanding through well-differentiated application and challenge activities; Applying their understanding to real-life problems, for example temperatures, budgets and balances; Gauging their own understanding through both AfL activities and self-reflection tasks. Included is: Whole lesson PowerPoint - clear and precise, colourful and comprehensive; Bronze, Silver, and Gold level award worksheets - carefully differentiated and provided in both Word and PDF; Teacher answer sheets; A detailed teacher lesson plan; A number line; I have previously taught this to children in years 5 and 6, although with suitable adaptations it could be used for children between years 3-9. All images are licensed for commercial use, and image rights are listed on the last page of the presentation.

This informative session offers Early Years practitioners a more in-depth understanding of how to employ problem-solving activities effectively in their classrooms. It is intended to be used in a short, introductory, information-sharing CPD environment, and took me about 45 minutes to deliver. The session is rooted in findings from educational research (links included) and goes through: Exactly what constitutes problem-solving, and why it is so essential in the broader context of maths education; Key ingredients for ensuring that problem-solving tasks are engaging and effective; Some excellent model examples of problem-solving activities; How to incorporate ‘incidental problem-solving’ into classrooms; Useful links for resources and task ideas, and further reading. I hope that you find it useful!