Tes Maths: Cover lesson collection

Craig Barton

09th May 2016

Maths

Detailed lesson ideas to help you prepare valuable cover work

It is always handy to have a stock of cover lessons up your sleeve, in case you're off sick, going on a course or left in the lurch by a colleague. And with the exams on the horizon, I find that this becomes more important than ever.

Good-quality cover work needs to have clear instructions and be plentiful, so that students don't finish it all in five minutes. For the non-maths specialist covering your class, it's also very useful if it comes complete with answers.

With that in mind, here is a selection of the best cover lessons from the Tes Maths community.

Craig Barton, Tes Maths adviser

Resources by topic

Explore exercises for every maths topic you could imagine using these thorough lesson plans and activities. With pages of questions and answers, they are perfect for cover work and are pitched at Year 7, Year 8, Year 9 and GCSE classes.

Student booklets

Although these workbooks were designed as homework activities, they can easily be left for cover lessons. They cater for a range of ages and abilities, from low-ability sheets for Year 8, Year 9 and Year 10 to high-ability booklets for Year 8 and 9. Likewise, I would highly recommend checking out the Brockington homework collection, which has mixed topic homework sheets for every age and ability that are ideal for cover lessons.

Maths Homework booklet for year 8 low

HW booklet with 10 weeks of HW. Set one page each week and use the summary page to keep track of which questions they are getting right/wrong. Set targets and see improvement. Very popular within my department for lower ability groups and although designed for year 8, this could be used with any low ability year groups in year 9, 10 or 11. Students seem to enjoy doing them as well

By Tristanjones

Maths Homework booklet Y9 low ability

The second of my HW booklets which include 10 similar hws that can be tracked over time. These really let you know whether students actually bother to read your comments from the previous week.

By Tristanjones

Maths Homework booklet Y10 low ability

10 HW's including a cover this time. Print this out as a booklet and track over time whether students are making any progress. Set targets etc. There are similar booklets for years 8 and 9 in my resources. For year 11 there are 10 revision sheets but they are not presented in the form of a booklet with a tracking grid.

anyone want to email me some answers for this then please send me a message

By Tristanjones

Maths Homework booklet Y8/9 higher ability

10 homework sheets that can be printed into a booklet. Track students progress on a range of topics over the weeks to see if they are improving. Each week questions increase in complexity within the same topic.

By Tristanjones

TES

Brockington College Maths homework booklets

All of the homework booklets I design for my Maths department, free and in one place.

Obviously cannot post answers here, but happy for people to email me for them - a DM on twitter with your email address is the best way to get them.

Note there are a few images borrowed from different places. Apologies for any infringement and please just let me know and I am happy to credit or change as required.

By Peter Mattock

GCSE worksheets

Avoid unproductivity in your Year 10 and 11 cover lessons using this bundle of revision homework sheets. Covering a range of topics, and alternating between calculator and non-calculator exercises, these work well at the end of a year as a revision exercise or at the start of term to see what your students have remembered. Two resource bundles are available; one for students working towards the old grades C and B (now grades 4-6), and one for students aiming for grades B to A* (now grades 7-9).

Y11 Higher (C/B Grade) Homework Sheets

Inspired by http://goo.gl/EUD8Mu I have created 20 Higher Tier h/w sheets for students aiming to get a C/B grade. The sheets alternate between non-calc and calc h/ws and will be used in Term 1 this year. I will then use some B/A grade h/w sheets (watch this space) in Term 2/3. These sheets are aimed at giving students revision of the topics needed to achieve C/B grades in their GCSEs.

By paulcollins

Y11 Homework Sheets (B-A* Grade)

These are the homework sheets I have been using with my top set Y11 class. They cover 10 different topics aimed at them achieving A/A*s in their GCSE examinations. Topics covered: Surds, Bounds, Algebraic Fractions, Probability, Recurring Decimals, Indices, Factorising, Sim Equations + more. For C-B grade h/w sheets see my other resource. http://mrcollinsmaths.blogspot.co.uk Now with answers included!

By paulcollins

Revision presentation

Challenge your KS3 class with this well-structured resource, which when printed fits neatly onto an A4 piece of paper, complete with a presentation displaying the answers. With over 100 slides, there is plenty of content to keep a class occupied and is a good back-up to have for multiple cover lessons.

Maths investigations

If you are feeling a bit adventurous, then you could always set something a bit different. Engage your students with one of six thought-provoking investigations, including topics such as area and probability. It comes complete with teacher support, as well as guidance for peer assessment

Free Massive Maths Revision Powerpoint KS3 GCSE. Over 100 Slides & 10'000 Questions

A huge revision PowerPoint with topics from KS3 (11-14 year olds) to KS4 (GCSE) inspired by ben coopers original resource (link in the ppt)

Over 100 slides, over 10’000 questions (with answers). I've also created black & white worksheets that can be distributed to your students (answers removed of course).

Topics include; fractions, decimals percentages, transformations, trigonometry, area, angles, construction, equations, quadratics, sequences, graphs, sampling, probability and many more.

Also check out our accompanying KS3 Maths bumper Homework booklet containing a years worth of maths homework.
https://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/ks3-bumper-maths-homework-megapack-1-years-worth-of-homework-11067720

Hope you find this as useful as I did, & if you did please make our day by leaving us a comment or rating.

Much appreciated.

Enjoy

By theeducationspecialist

TES

Maths Investigations

Based on the Science tasks produced in East Sussex, these investigation starter sheets give an introduction to a topic for investigation, with levelled guidance for progressing the investigation and to allow self- and peer-assessment. Targetted at Y7, these may be suitable for several year groups in KS2/3 Please note that the levelling guide is a first draft and may change. There are currently six investigations: one based on positive & negative numbers, one on sequences, one on area/perimeter, one on polyominoes, one on handling data, and the sixth on probability. Any suggestions warmly welcomed at tafkam.tes@googlemail.com

By tafkam

Useful extras

You can't always be prepared for a last minute change of plan, but at least with this handy template you can quickly organise your thoughts in a structured way. And if you fancy trying something off-the-wall, how about adapting these English cover work lesson ideas for the maths classroom? With a bit of creative thinking, these could be used to approach topics in a more engaging way.

Cover Work Template

I use this planning table as a way to set cover for my classes and to communicate with the member of staff taking my class so that I can follow up any behaviour / concerns.

By snail_friendly

TES

Cover Lesson Ideas For KS3 - Fun Teaching Tips

A selection of quick and easy lesson suggestions which don't require resources or preparation, for use when having to do last minute cover. Created jointly with member Clarerees.

By anna_wex

Find even more secondary maths resources

Tes Maths: Cover lesson collection