First Mental Arithmetic Teacher's Guide

First Mental Arithmetic provides graded questions that develop children's essential maths skills.

A downwards extension of the bestseller Mental Arithmetic, it comprises three books for Year 1 (Books 1 to 3) and three for Year 2 (Books 4 to 6).

Books 4 to 6 are also suitable for some older children.

All the books are ideal for one-per-term use, and may be used flexibly for individual, paired, group or whole-class maths practice, or maths recovery or homework.

Separate books of answers are available and a table enabling you to obtain an indication of a child's National Curriculum level, using his or her average First Mental Arithmetic session score, may be downloaded from this website. With accessible text and maths glossaries to consolidate children's understanding, First Mental Arithmetic encourages a disciplined approach to maths.

The later books provide Achievement charts, which help children to monitor their own progress, together with more intensive practice that prepares them for Key Stage 2.

Through the series, Check up tests enable you, the teacher, to ensure that each child has mastered core concepts.First Mental Arithmetic Teacher's Guide provides a full introduction to First Mental Arithmetic, suggesting how it may best be used. If some children are working below age-related expectations, you can provide them with First Mental Arithmetic books that are at a lower level than those given to the rest of the class, supporting differentiation.

This guide includes Assessment resources that will help you to choose the best book for each child, including photocopiable Entry tests.

In addition, six Diagnostic checks help you to pinpoint specific areas of difficulty and give you 'Activity prompts' that will help children overcome them.

Full marking keys are provided. The General resources section contains further photocopiable resources that you can use to support children's learning in maths, including abacus sheets, number lines, number cards and word cards.The Teacher's Guide helps you to: Assess new pupils Provide regular maths practice Develop pupils' understanding of maths Personalise their learning experience Diagnose problem areas Devise intervention activities Organise group marking sessions Plan individual, paired and group work Set homework Monitor progress Reward achievement