Division. There are seventeen boys and fourteen girls in a class. The children sit at tables of 4. How many tables are needed? What is a bar model? By using a pictorial representation of the maths question in hand you are able to visually represent something that can be challenging to comprehend purely conceptually. Having only introduced bar modelling to Year 6 recently I wanted to find a way to make their new-found skills useful in their approach to answering the kind of year 6 word problems that appear in the SATs.

These problem-solving year 6 maths worksheets will challenge and engage your pupils to enhance their learning. Some word problems may seem too complex or confusing at first glance. They may have too much information, too many steps, or too many operations. In such cases, breaking down the problem into smaller and simpler parts is helpful. Here are some tips on how to do that: The interactive 'guided solve' feature on the PowerPoint is a really useful way of walking pupils - especially the less confident ones - through the best ways to complete each puzzle. Bar models are adaptable and students can deploy a fraction bar model, or use bar model multiplication to solve problems.The example below, of a multi-step maths word problem for year 6, requires children to use division and subtraction.

Word Problems are important because they test the student's ability to understand when to apply what they have learned in maths to problems in the real world. There are many ways children can solve these math problems: one common approach is to read through the word problem and create a word equation, then insert numbers (where suitable) in the place of words, so you can use maths to answer the original question. Drawings: These are sketches or illustrations that show shapes or objects. For example, you can use a drawing to show how to find a shape's perimeter, area, or volume. Having grasped the use of bar models for 1 step problems, I wanted to give my Year 6 a multi-step problem solving process. Breaking down Year 6 multi-step word problems with structured bar modelling Solve each part of the problem separately and write down the intermediate results. For example, using the previous problem: The idea with this is, of course, that eventually this whole scaffold will be removed and children will be able to visualise these types of Year 6 word problems without even having to draw bar models, although there is nothing wrong with a child drawing a bar model in the KS2 SATs, for example.

To solve a multi-step word problem, you need to use more than one operation. Deciding which operations to use - addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division - and coming to the right conclusion is a really good test of children's calculation and reasoning skills. Finally, some (scruffy) worked examples: 2016 SATs Paper 3, Question 16: Ratio and Proportion Word Problem 2016 SATs Paper 3, Question 20: Fractions Decimals Percentages Word Problem 2016 SATs Paper 3, Question 13: Fractions Decimals Percentages Word Problem Looking for more examples of Year 6 word problems? By KS2 they will generally no longer need objects to help them but will use written methods, and may do two-step calculations. In year 3 and 4, they'll practise solving problems in contexts. In year 5 and 6, children will move onto multi-step calculations and working with decimals, percentages and fractions. According to new curriculum standards, they should not use calculators when solving problems.