Cambridge Hitachi

Mult-e-Maths Toolbox

Video examples

The Toolbox gives you the freedom to plan, create and save your own lessons. To give you an idea of the scope and flexibility of the Toolbox, these video clips show teachers from different primary schools demonstrating and discussing how they use the maths tools creatively in class.

Download Windows Media Player: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/

Year 2 Lesson - Repeated addition

Rebecca Kirk, Rushey Green Primary School, Lewisham
Duration: 4 min 40 sec

The interactive whiteboard provides concrete and visual representations of mathematical ideas that make them easier for children to understand. Demonstrating how to tackle the problems using familiar materials means the new technology can be linked seamlessly with traditional approaches.

  • Oral and mental starter: this sets the scene with a familiar activity, away from the IWB, that everyone can join in with.
  • Main teaching: Using the images as a concrete representation of ideas, the teacher is able to shift the focus to a more abstract level, thereby raising the level of challenge. Differentiation is thus embedded within the lesson.
  • Pupil activities: Children practise and consolidate their understanding of the concepts using objects and models matching those used on the whiteboard. The familiarity of the materials helps the children to work independently and collaboratively.

Year 5 lesson - Using a protractor

Rosemary Hunt, Coopers Lane Primary School, Lewisham

Clip 1
(1 min 31 sec)
Clip 2
(3 min 36 sec)
Clip 3
(2 min 17 sec)
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Standard quality (56K - 512K)Standard quality (56K - 512K)Standard quality (56K - 512K)
High Quality (512K and above)High Quality (512K and above)High Quality (512K and above)

Download the Teacher's notes and saved Toolbox file for this lesson:

The Toolbox provides a stimulus to promote discussion and the sharing of ideas. It gives clear images that everyone can see and relate to when talking and listening to one another.

  • Oral and mental starter: The board should not replace well-tried and effective activities for helping children learn mathematics. Here the teacher establishes the concept of turn and different ways to describe how it is measured.
  • Main teaching: By displaying the protractor tool, the teacher is able to assess the children's knowledge and understanding before moving on. The protractor on the screen matches the physical tool that the children will use. Its size and clarity aids the teacher's demonstration of how to read the two different scales. The magnifying feature enables the teacher to encourage and model precision in using the protractor.
  • Pupil activities: The ability to reproduce a worksheet directly from what is on the screen makes a powerful link between what they are seeing and the activity to be undertaken. The Toolbox itself can also be used by pupils working individually, in pairs or small groups.

Numbers Tools: using a hundred square

Tracy Kemp, Year 4 teacher, Rushey Green Primary School
Duration: 2 min 17 sec

The whiteboard provides an excellent resource for exploring familiar mathematical models. Here the teacher demonstrates a number of simple ideas that can be used on a regular basis.

How the hundred square can be used creatively to enrich lesson starters.

Measures Tools: using weighing scales

Rebecca Kirk, Year 2 teacher, Rushey Green Primary School
Duration: 1 min 43 sec

How the weighing scales can be used to give a clear demonstration and in problem solving tasks.

Children often have difficulty in reading dials and scales on measuring equipment. The Toolbox model of the weighing scales does not replace the need for exploring real equipment but its large size is very helpful both in demonstrating how to use it and in sharing ideas and strategies.

Shape and Space Tools: angles and protractors

Rosemary Hunt, Year 5/6 teacher, Coopers Lane Primary School

Duration: 3 min 50 sec

One of the most effective teaching tools is the protractor as it allows the teacher to demonstrate effectively estimating and measuring angles in a format that is large enough for the whole class to see.

Download the Teacher's notes and saved Toolbox file for this lesson:

The board does not replace well-tried and effective activities for helping children learn mathematics. Used in combination with other approaches the whiteboard can be used to enhance and develop children's knowledge, skills and understanding.

The Toolbox provides a stimulus to promote discussion and the sharing of ideas. It is a clear image that everyone can see and relate to when talking and listening to one another.

With the lesson prepared in advance, the sequence of pages provides a visual prompt for each stage of the lesson. This promotes a good pace and ensures a clear progression in the different stages of the lesson.