This activity for young primary pupils is designed to work on basic numeracy skills whilst communicating in English.

Aims

Content

• basic addition and subtraction

Language

• Lexis – animals and numbers
• Grammar – 'have got' in questions and positive sentences
• Skills – all four skills are developed in this activity

Preparation

• Get a set of toy animals with several of each animal.
• Make one copy of the worksheet for each pupil.
• You may need to review spelling of number words before this lesson.

Procedure

• Show pupils the animals one at a time and ask what animal it is in English.
• Put several animals together and ask pupils how many animals there are.
• Make groups of animals (e.g. three pigs and four cows) and ask how many of each there are and how many animals there are in total. (In stages 2 and 3 model the language used on the worksheet – e.g. 'How many pigs have I got?'
• Write your last example on the board and ask a pupil to come and write the answer as a figure and as a word.
• Give out the worksheet and let pupils work on the questions individually. Monitor and help where needed. Fast finishers can colour in the pictures.
• Check orally with the class.

Extension
Pupils can now go on to write their own questions and ask their classmates orally.

By Chris Baldwin

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