After our Year 11 mocks at the beginning of term, I have been looking at topics that the group need to review before we get in to run of past papers. The first topic I decided to look at was Percentages. In the previous lesson, I set a homework on percentages to get them thinking about it before the lesson.
I started with this set of amazing Percentage Multiple Choice Quizzes uploaded to the TES by Ben Cooper. There are 7 different 10 question multiple choice quizzes, and I started with the easy ones, and worked my way up to the Reverse Percentages questions. The students were working on Mini Whiteboards.
Next I gave them a set of order cards using the powerpoint "Percentages - What you need to know!", which is shown above. I made the PowerPoint to go through at the front as a plenary, intending to give them a copy of it to keep in their notes. However, after making it, I changed tack a little, and cut it up into strips. I started by cutting vertically, to split the examples from the instructions. Then I cut each line in to its own little strip.
UPDATE: I have turned the PowerPoint shown above into an easier to use set of order cards (the pieces are already jumbled up, so only need printing before giving to students to cut out themselves). It is available with the What you need to Know resource on TES.
I split the class into groups of 3 and 4, and gave each group a set of the strips for the examples. I told them there were 6 questions, with solutions, and they had to sort them in to the correct order. This got every single student involved, as they discussed which bits had to go where. As an extension, I then gave them the strips with the instructions on, and told them that they went alongside the examples they had already done. This got them thinking more deeply about what exactly it was that they did at each stage.
Once they had completed this, I gave them out the copies of the notes to file away (my students do like to have notes!)
I then gave them the excellent Mega Percentages Tarsia Puzzle on the TES from the amazing MrBartonMaths, which they worked on in the same groups as they had been in for the order cards. This allowed them to consolidate and practice the skills they had been revising in the first half of the lesson. I printed them out in the large format, on coloured card to make them more kinaesthetic.
Having had a lot more practice at working with percentages, I then got them to work individually, and to have another look at their homework before I collected it. After a few minutes, I gave them the answers, and any they got wrong, they had to correct with a clear method shown.
Finally, as a plenary, I got them back on their Mini-Whiteboards, and used a selection of the QQI activities on percentages to generate random questions for them to answer.
An enjoyable, productive and engaging lesson all round.
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