Exploring the Impact of Physical Activities on Children's Number Recall

PROBATIONER PROFESSIONAL ENQUIRY CAROLINE STIRTON CAN PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES HELP NUMBER RECALL IN CHILDREN?

GTCS Standard 2.3.2 Have knowledge and understanding of the importance of research and engagement in professional enquiry. This standard is to make sure we are able to access and apply relevant findings from educational research and also how to structure our own enquiry, evaluate our findings and apply this to our teaching in the future. I chose to look at number recall as I had noticed that some of the pupils in my class really struggled with knowing their time tables which made maths much more difficult for them. I already did a weekly times table test at random with the class and we played lots of mental maths games to try and help them learn in a fun way but they still struggled with it so I wanted to try out some other approaches.

GTCS Standard 3.1.3 Employ a range of teaching strategies and resources to meet the needs and abilities of learners. This standard relates to using different strategies and resources to capture the attention of all children and meet their needs. It also includes evaluating the success of these methods and taking action to allow all children to learn from the teaching, so making changes where necessary so that the learning is accessible to all. This standard relates to my enquiry as I had already tried a number of strategies which I found were having limited success, some of the learners were benefitting for them but the learners I had noted as having most difficulty were still struggling.

My Question Can physical activities help number recall in children? Why? What had I already tried? Why Dr Andy?

Dr Andrew Dalziel (Dr Andy going forward) is a consultant in Bilateral Integration (using both sides of the body in a co-ordinated manner which shows that both sides of the brain are communicating effectively and sharing information) and a Neuro-Developmental Practitioner. He specialises in providing support for those with learning or behavioural difficulties, developmental delays or are underachieving. Instead of focusing on the symptoms, Dr Andy looks at the underlying factors which can contribute to various difficulties such as with reading and spelling, poor listening skills and educational underachievement amongst many others. His website (https://bettermoversandthinkers.com/) provides much more information on this and lots of testimonials from people he has worked with.

Dr Andy is a regular visitor to Dalintober and he works with each class and also checks with the teacher if there are any concerns they have, or any children in particular they are looking for advice on. If he is visiting a teacher he has already met then he will usually observe them teaching a lesson then give them some feedback but on his first visit he took my class for a PE lesson while I observed. During the lesson he chatted through what he was doing then after we discussed it in more detail and I mentioned what I was thinking of doing for my enquiry. He gave me lots of tips and also mentioned a few teachers in the school who used his techniques so I could observe them.

My Plan Research Better Movers and Thinkers (BMT) activities. Observe BMT in practice in P6 and P1. Explain to class what I will be doing. Get class to fill in rating card giving themselves a score of 1-5 for how well they feel they know their times tables and write a comment to explain why they gave themselves that rating. Do different BMT activities a few times a week over a 5 or 6 week period. Get class to fill in rating card after this time frame. Work out average rating and compare these to see if there are any changes.

My progress Researched Dr Andy, BMT and suggested activities from Scottish Association of Teachers of Physical Education. Observed P6 and P1 doing their activities in class. Class completed the first rating card. Introduced some of the activities, usually morning starter activity or as a brain break in the afternoon.

Pupil Ratings The pupils completed their rating cards, I got 18 back due to absence on the day. Most common score and average came out as 3, if I was doing it again I would do scores of 1-4. Discussed what it might look like at each rating but some funny comments I scored myself as 4 because I know all my times tables except 6, 7, 8 and 9 times I put 2 because I find the 8 times table really hard, sometimes I get it right but not all I put 3 because I can do my times tables but they re boring so I don t try

BMT Techniques https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chUIt8fAkZQ We used lots of different activities in the class where the children worked on their own or with a partner and chose a times table they wanted to work on. I also went round and worked with different pupils to see how they were getting on, check people weren t just doing the 2 times table! Some of the sequences: Circle tapping Clap, clap, stamp Hands on floor Clap hands, right hands, own hands, left hands, own hands, both hands Added extras for those who were doing well You and partner do different times table Only do odd or even sums

Unfortunately I wasnt able to go any further with my enquiry firstly as we started to limit contact in the school and then with lockdown but I have looked at various pieces of related research such as Teaching Times Tables- A Whole School Approach (https://carmelarchimedesmathshub.org.uk/wp- content/uploads/2018/10/Times-Table-A-Whole-School-Approach.pdf), an article by STEM learning (https://www.stem.org.uk/news-and-views/opinions/should-primary-school-children- be-learning-times-tables-heart) and Assessment and Strategies for Teaching Numeracy, Including Pupils with Numeracy Difficulties (https://www.highland.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/17205/assessment_and_strategies_for_ teaching_numeracy.pdf)

Teaching Times Tables- A Whole School Approach Some Key Findings Rote learning isn t enough to help children learn time tables Differences between learning times tables and passing tests Practical equipment and visual representation needed initially Some Facts Children can feel overwhelmed by sheer volume of facts to recall Tests can motivate those who learn by rote but doesn t support those who can t Research by Boaler, Munson and Williams; 2017 shows learning mathematics involves 5 pathways in brain- 2 of which are visual.

Should primary school children be learning times tables by heart, STEM Learning article by Rachel Jackson Some Key Findings Jo Boaler, a professor of mathematics education at Stanford University *timed multiplication tests can cause anxiety for many children *this can block their working memory and prevent recall of number facts *this can lead children to the decision they can t do maths Charlie Stripp, director of the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) offers up a different perspective: *knowing times tables is important for learning and understanding maths *learning tables can be fun for children *knowing tables helps children develop learning as cognitive space is freed up information. for new The author of the article agrees with both in part in the sense that some children thrive when learning times tables but others become stressed and anxious but not knowing times tables holds children back in more complex mathematics. She advocates lots of different ways to learn times tables including active games, concrete and pictorial resources, times table songs and doubling times tables like 2, 4 and 8 and 3 and 6

Assessment and Strategies for Teaching Numeracy- Including Pupils with Numeracy Difficulties Key Findings Some children have difficulty retaining and recalling number facts just like some struggle with reading and spelling (Geary and Hoard, 2005) so they may have to work out every step of a calculation repeatedly or resort to guessing. This can lead to maths anxiety ranging from mild dislike to genuine dread which can then have an effect on cognitive performance. They looked at various interventions which included having concrete resources, targeted support from the teacher to differentiate work and support from ASN teacher. Students are most successful when they have a range of strategies they can use to work things out and are free to choose which they think will be the best rather than relying on teacher help.

Possible Outcomes Although I was unable to complete my enquiry I observed the children trying out different strategies and also worked with individual children to see how they were getting on and it seemed to me that the activities were helping the children to learn their times tables and also making it more fun for them! This would seem to support some of the findings of the research I mentioned previously, such as providing different strategies to learn which have an active component whether this is through doing something or using concrete resources. This should also reduce the anxiety caused by testing which may make children more receptive to new learning.

Implications Although I didn t finish my enquiry, I feel that I saw a change in the children from the responses to learning times tables that ranged from boredom to dread and panic about failing previously to excitement and a sense of fun in learning times tables. I definitely plan to continue using these strategies to learn times tables, counting in foreign languages, spelling and any other ways I can think of!

Next Steps When we are back to school I would like to continue this enquiry, although realistically I will probably start it from scratch rather than just picking up where we left off. I would change my ratings to being out of 1 to 4 to save people picking 3 as a middle of the range figure and I would also like to compare other strategies to help learning although that would probably be at a separate time.