TEACHERS’ NOTES

This interactive game is designed to complement Budgie Buying, page 24 of “Number”, Figure It Out, Level 3.

Scenario

Students buy a budgie and the things they need to look after it. They calculate the costs, some discounts, and the total they have spent. They get a free packet of seed every time they get an answer correct. When they've finished their shopping and gone through the checkout, students can print out a record of the questions they answered.

Navigation buttons and help screens

We suggest that you work through the game before the students do and familiarise yourself with the help screens and navigation buttons.

Restart button
This button takes the user back to the beginning of the game.

Help button
The user can access the help screens at any time by pressing this button.
The help screens suggest one or two strategies that the students could use, for example, number lines, standard place value partitioning, or deriving from known facts. Note that the help screens do not use the same numbers as in the game; instead they give examples using similar numbers.

Check answer button
The user clicks this button to check that their answer is correct.

Next button
By clicking this button, the user can move to the next question if they cannot answer the current question. If they use this button, they won't receive free seed for the question they skipped.

Curriculum and Number Framework links

The game supports students working at the advanced additive to early multiplicative stages of the Number Framework. In particular, it gives students practice in adding and subtracting amounts of money and encourages them to use various part-whole strategies to add, subtract, calculate discounts, and find the best value item. The achievement objectives that it addresses are:

• write and solve problems which involve whole numbers and decimals and which require a choice of one or more of the four arithmetic operations (Number, level 3)
• solve practical problems which require finding fractions of whole number and decimal amounts (Number, level 3)

Maths skills used

While each help screen suggests one or two strategies for working out the answers, there are many other strategies that students may use. For example:

• Students could use rounding and compensation to answer some of the subtraction questions. For example, they have $125 and their budgie costs $19. To find how much money they have left, that is, $125 – $19, they could start with $125 – $20 = $105 and then add $1 back to get $106. This can easily be shown on a number line.
  
  
  
  
• Students could change subtraction to addition. For example, at the checkout, the total cost of everything bought was $106.95. How much change would they get from the $110.00 they had to spend? Students could change
  $110.00 – $106.95 = to $106.95 + = $110.00. They then add 5 cents to get to $107 and $3 to get to $110, so they would get $3.05 change. This could also be shown on a number line.
• To find the best value seed, students could use number sense and estimation to help them decide whether they have to calculate the exact answer. At times, there is an obvious difference between the prices, so there is no need to calculate an exact answer.
• To find a fraction of an amount, students can use their whole number and place value understanding. For example, to calculate 1/4 of $2.40, they could calculate 1/4 of 24, which is 6, and then use their place value understanding to get 60 cents as the answer.

Use in the classroom

The game takes approximately 30 minutes to play. Each time a new game is started, the numbers will be different from the previous game. This means that the students can play the game several times without learning the answers
by rote.

Like the rest of the Figure It Out series, Budgie Buying assumes prior teaching of the relevant maths. It provides an engaging scenario in which students can practise and strengthen their understanding of calculations involving money.

The game could form part of the class task board used either during or outside maths time. You could teach a group of students how to play the game and have those students teach others. The students could then use the game as an independent or pair activity to practise addition and subtraction after they have completed the page in Figure It Out or as homework. (Please note that it is not necessary to have completed the page in Figure It Out before playing the game.) Ideally, the students should play the game in pairs. This gives them opportunities to discuss their strategies and to peer teach. Discussing with a classmate what the question is asking them to do can also improve students' comprehension of the questions.

Note that the game may not be at the right level for all the students in the class. If students choose to skip a question and move on, they need to record the question to discuss with you later. If a student is skipping too many questions, they might not yet be at the level needed for the game.

When the game is being used as part of the maths programme, the students could make a record in their maths log. They could record the date, the number of bags of seed, a strategy they have used for the first time, any queries they have, and anything else significant. They should also include the name of the person they worked with. If they could not solve a problem, they could print the page so that they can get help with it. These questions may provide a teaching point at group time.

Ways of using the printout

If the class is set up for printing, the students could glue the printout into their maths book. The students can highlight questions they found difficult or where they used a strategy they hadn't used before. They could return to a question they did not answer and have another attempt.

You could use the printouts during sharing time to promote discussion about the strategies that the students used to solve a problem. You could also use the printouts to check whether there is a pattern in the types of questions that either individuals or groups of students are having difficulty with.

Ways of supporting struggling students

Struggling students may prefer to play the game rather than do the activities in the Figure It Out book. They may find it easier to take a risk when answering a question because there is no permanent record and they can have multiple attempts.

Peer tutoring is a great way to support struggling students. The tutor should be at a slightly higher level than their peer, perhaps just moving into the advanced multiplicative stage so that they will still benefit from the activity. Some starter questions for the tutor to ask when their peer is experiencing difficulties are provided at the end of these notes.

You could set goals for a student, for example, "I want you to get 3 bags of seed today". You could also put a list of possible strategies on the wall next to the computer, with a code for each strategy. If the student experiences a problem, they can note the problem and the strategy they used. You can then refer back to this when they are reviewing work.

Make sure that maths equipment is available for the student to use.

If you set the game as a homework activity, ask the parents to come in so you can explain the strategies to them. (If the student is struggling, there should already be a dialogue between home and school.)

Starter questions for informal peer support or tutoring
(for the student tutor)

Allow your friend time to read the problem and think about how they might solve it. If they can't solve it, you could say:

• "Read the question to me."
• "What do you think you need to do to solve the problem?"
• "Have you used the help button?" Work through the example together.
• "Show me how you think you might be able to solve the problem."
• "What do you need to know to solve this problem?"
• "What about if we tried to solve it this way?" Suggest a way your friend could solve the problem.

If they are still having problems with a question, work through it with them. Remember to use lots of praise for everything they try.