Sample teaching article · Practical ideas to adapt to your classroom.
Start with one learning goal
A teaching-learning material works best when children know what to do with it. Choose one goal, such as comparing numbers or sorting words, before collecting materials. Make a small set first and try it with a group. Use clean, smooth materials and avoid sharp edges or pieces that younger children may put in their mouths.
1. Bottle-cap number tray
Write numbers on large caps or cardboard circles. Children arrange them in order, find a missing number or make two groups with equal totals. For children beginning to count, use dots alongside the numerals. Ask each learner to explain one arrangement rather than only copying a partner.
2. Word-card sorting board
Draw four columns on reused cardboard: person, place, animal and thing. Give pairs eight familiar noun cards to sort. Let them add one new word to each column. Change the headings to describing words or action words when you introduce a different topic.
3. Place-value pockets
Attach paper pockets labelled hundreds, tens and ones to a board. Give children digit cards and ask them to build 243, then exchange the tens and ones cards. Ask what changed and why. Use bundles of sticks alongside the cards for children who need concrete examples.
4. Shape hunt cards
Draw a circle, triangle, square and rectangle on separate cards. Learners find classroom objects with similar flat faces, then draw and label them. Discuss the difference between a flat shape and a solid object; a ball is a solid, while its outline looks circular.
5. Story sequence strips
Draw three or four scenes from a simple story on scrap paper. Children arrange them and tell what happened first, next and last. Ask older learners to write a caption for each scene. Finish by checking whether children can complete one task independently.
Related classroom resources
- Teaching Place Value with Bundles and Loose Sticks
- Three Simple STEM Challenges with Paper and Cardboard
- A Simple 30-Minute Routine for Multi-Class Teaching
Browse free worksheets · Explore teaching articles
Useful for another teacher or parent?