Tag Archives: GCSE

140. Cut out the Quartiles

5 Replies

Quartiles on cumulative frequency graphs are such easy questions when you get ‘it’. The hair pulling, nail biting wrong answers you see on exam papers make you wonder if you’ve ever taught the topic. Time for the scissors again …

Activity
This activity demonstrates in a practical and visual way how to set up the quartiles on a graph.

Equipment
Printed cf graphs
Rulers
Scissors
Glue
Coloured pens

Task
1. Cut out the area to the left of the graph. Leave a column of graph squares next to the y-axis, for scale. Cut exactly to the top of the curve.

image

2. Fold the graph in half, parallel to the x-axis, with the maximum value just touching the axis.

image

Repeat the half fold again
image

3. Fold along the x-axis. Unfold – you’ve just divided the graph into quarters. This should reinforce that y-axis is split into quarters.

image

4. Stick down the axes. Place a ruler on the fold lines and join the ends of the folds to the y-axis.

image

5. If you fold the graph forward you get this:

image

6. Put a mark at the end of each line and continue with a dotted line. Discuss what proportion of the data each line represents and label it.

image

7. Fold the graph back and mark in the vertical lines. Solutions,can now be read from the x-axis.

image

8. The interquartile range can also be highlighted and calculated.

image

Review
This activity covers a fair few learning styles and creates a visual/memorable resource,in their books. Since using it, the number of pupils who quarter the x-axis has dropped significantly. I hope it works for you.

134. Revising around in Circles

Leave a reply

Ah … beloved GCSE students. Why does revising feel like I’m just reteaching a topic for the Nth time?

image

I’ve been trying some new ideas out on my GCSE group. One of the more popular ones ideas, for an unpopular topic, were these Circle Theorems fact cards. Students were given four cards with a diagram and an open question, for example: What is special about angles ABD and ACD? In the gap, they had to answer the question. They soon realised that the answers they had written were the theorems that they’d learnt. Their solutions had popped into their heads, without being bogged down by number stress. They could then try number questions, referring back to these fact cards if they got stuck.

117. Circle facts

Leave a reply

I sometimes despair when I read through students’ exercise books. A brilliant explanation or set of revision notes are let down by poor diagrams – especially when you are working on circle theorems. I’m also suspicious of handing out perfectly typed notes because I’m sure they don’t get properly read.

I’ve taken both these issues and put together a C grade Circle Theorems Fact finder sheet. The diagrams are printed, but the theories are missing. Students need to write the missing facts in their own words. This processing of information should consolidate their understanding.

image

Download it from here.

101. Stick ’em up

Leave a reply

I get just a tad frustrated when I spend time in lessons discussing targets and getting pupils to write them somewhere safe, only for the same pupils to tell SLT, when they drop in, that they don’t know what their targets are!

So I’ve re-found these stickers which we had in school a couple of years ago, but lapsed in using.

image

I bought these ‘GCSE Assessment stickers’ and ‘KS3 Assessment stickers’ from School Stickers on Amazon UK for £1.96 per pack. I’ve already started using them and my classes seem receptive to brightly coloured targets.

73. Calculators: The New Hope

2 Replies

Shameless Stars Wars reference!

To explain: My Foundation GCSE class are finally realising that if they work, they might just get that elusive Grade D or even C. This is my ‘Hope’. They have been doing well with the D to C essential skills sheets by @MathedUp and are developing a positive attitude.

The ‘New’ thing is they have shown an interest in knowing how their* calculators work, for the calculator paper.

‘You mean that little button will work out powers for me?’!

* When I say their calculator I of course mean mine – they haven’t got as far as bringing in theirs from home!

Activity
I used Google images to find a clear picture of the calculators we use in school. I put it in the middle of a page and surrounded it with common calculator topics/problems:

image

We discussed how to use the calculator with each problem. The best students labelled the buttons, gave instructions on how to use them and even asked me for simple examples for each case. This is an example of a pupil’s sheet:

image

I was very impressed by their attention to detail. I gave them no instruction on what to write and they produced good revision resources. This would be a good activity for KS3 as well as D/C border students.

 

Update: 21st November 2013

My worksheet is available here: How to use a Calculator

69. GCSE Inspiration

Leave a reply

I saw this link posted on Twitter by @TeacherToolkit and just had to share it.

This is a video by David McQueen (@DavidMcQueen) inspiring pupils to be the best they can in their exams:

I dare you to be magnificent

If you teach an exam class or are a form tutor to an exam year, you NEED to watch this!

68. Another GCSE revision idea

Leave a reply

You will be surprised to hear that this activity doesn’t involve cutting up a GCSE paper! See Foundation GCSE student review and How to make GCSE past papers fun.

Equipment
Digital version of a GCSE (or A-Level or Functional Skills) paper
Individual whiteboards & pens
Digital projector

Set up
Split the class into groups of 4-6. They will need a whiteboard each. Allocate a team number/letter or name. Project the first question on the screen.

Activity
Use the GCSE paper to set (part of) a question for the class.
They all answer on their whiteboards and hold up the answer when you say.

The beauty of this method is you can adapt the questions to the understanding of the class and focus on specific skills, as opposed to issuing a paper version and going through every question.

Scoring
It’s quite common for a few bright/strong characters to take over team games, unless you can find a way to avoid this. The scoring is quite easy.

2 points if every member of the group gets the answer right.

1 point for each team, if more than one team is 100% correct.

You may think that this will encourage copying, but there is a third score:

-1 point if you can’t explain your answer

This means teams must work together to ensure everyone understands the solution. After all, these are exam questions which may take several minutes to complete. There is little value in using this as a revision tool if pupils don’t progress – which is where the peer explanation comes in.

Review
My class really enjoyed doing this on Friday as preparation for their end of year eams. It allowed me to pick out the most appropriate revision questions, without running up the photocopying bill!