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ATURE FOCUS: EXAMS


• ‘Howmanymore…’ and ‘Find the difference…’ questions


Children commonly struggle to recognise these questions as requiring subtraction. Bar models are particularly useful at visually demonstrating this. If you would like questions to practice this, students can work on: Subtr


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• Unfamiliar repre Many children can s the context of simpl quarters of the cake


ract NumbersMenta rs tallyly.


how ¾ when considered in sentations of fractions


, but with unfamiliar shapes e shapes such as three


they will often attempt to draw horizontal or vertical lines or just shade in three parts of


whatever shape they are presented with. Children need to securely understand the concept of the denominator representing ‘equal parts’ to be able to apply their knowledge. Try these this Question Set: Recognisise, Fi of Obj


bjects


not correctly formed. Right-leaning commas caused quite a stir in 2017 when children were denied marks for semicolons that failed to meet strict official standards. News earlier this year suggested that markers will be more lenient with punctuation in 2019, but capital letters could still catch out students who don’t clearly accentuate the characteristics of capital letters.


Reading


paper. It is only by ensuring that children build-up always a challenge but particularly on the reading Managing the allotted time on any exam paper is 1. Timing


their reading stamina and fluency that they will secure a good pass mark. Our longer reading Question SetsMission toMars (http


review/ Mars


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tps:////www w/Guide


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w.lblbq.org ww. rg/Questi


Mars) and Danger from the Nile (http


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tions/UserQues Fiction-Misiss


s/Us s/Us tions/UserQues Fiction-Danger-


your own ‘reading papers’ on any specific topic by children to maximise their marks. Try creating the-Nile) help build stamina to allow


using Learning by Questions’ question collection feature at http //


Question Sets you want to take from and add Simply select the relevant topic area and the os.


tps://www.lbw.lbq.org/H/HelplpVi rg questions from the list provided.


Scanning and skimming, are important skills to 2. Not using the text to answer questions


locate relevant sections of text. Children often


phrases or include slight variations from the actual lose marks if they find and then copy partial


have been designed to include opportunities for ‘young’. All of our ‘Short Reads’ retrieval sets text; for example, writing ‘babies’ instead of


children to find and copy particular phrases. For example in Ancient Egyptian Inventions (http Ques


tps:////www.lbq.org www. Non-fi


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Retri val). rieva


and miss key instructional words such as ‘not’; for time pressure, children often skim-read questions common issue for the reading paper. Due to the Not reading the question is an ironic yet very 3. Not reading the question!


many of these types of questions, for example, in what he ‘did not do’. Our Question Sets provide example, answering ‘what Bob did’ rather than


UserQues -Ancient-Egypti rg/


estionSetPrevi w/S/Short-Reads Egy


tPreview/ gyptiaian-Inve tions-2- venti ds- Maths • Just add zero


Believing that you just add a zero to turn 10 into 100 is a common mistake! Children need to have a secure understanding of place value to be able to multiply or divide by 10, 100 and 1,000. Get them to try our Question Set,Multiply Wh


iply and Dividevide


Whole Numbers by 0, 100 and 1,000, to see where they are struggling and help them to develop their understanding.


rs by 10, • C


olumn subtraction brings another minefield of Column subtraction


misconceptions! Errors commonly occur when there are place-holding zeros in the larger number. Children often take the exchanged digit ‘1’ straight to the column they are working on, missing out the interim exchanges. Our Question Set, Subtra Co


tr ract Numbers 28 www.education-today.co.uk rs up to to 3 Digigits ts using th the ColumnMethod, will help to address these issues. Videos


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Is There Life on Other Planets? (http //


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points in extended answers


Using direct quotes from the text is a skill that can help children use precise evidence to support their answers. All of our ‘Short Reads’ Question Sets (http // =3,4,5,


tps://www.lbw.lbq.org/s/search/e/englisish/r/re ding?y 5,6) give children opportunities to develop


rg readi ?ye rs years


this skill, providing model answers so that children can instantly self-check their own extended answers.


5. Being confident to express their own opinions


When children encounter a ‘Why do you think...?’ type question, they often lack the confidence to put forward their own viewpoint. Looking at the mark schemes so that children can see there are often several plausible answers, can help them develop this skill.


6. Inference


Even though children naturally use inference skills in everyday life, when it comes to inferring from texts, they often struggle to pick up the maximum number of points. Inference usually accounts for as many marks as retrieval questions (if not more), so mastering this skill is a priority. Our ‘Short Reads’ Question Sets include dedicated inference question sets.


e, Find andWrite Fra tions of a Set ts, which helps children to understand


Wr te Fr racti


fractions in a range of contexts. • Confusionwith carried digits


tps://www.lbw.lbq.org/Questions/UserQuestionSetP t-Reads


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epeating fe-on-


understanding: Add Numbers up to 3 Digigits the Co


ColumnMeth • Pie charts Pie charts always present a challenge because of


recognise that the c the lack of numeric


ircle represents a whole set of scales. Children need to


data. Our Question Set, Interp Line Gra


raphs, will hel • Adding fractions


Another classic area where children make the most mistakes is with adding fractions; they commonly add the numerators and


denominators. This misconception is challenged in all of our adding fractions sets such as Add Subtra


dd and ract Fr Fra ractions wi


consolidate their lea are in a centimetre. know, for example,


Diff ffe ferent Units • Pictograms


rams, gives children the feedback and opportunities to avoid this common error.


• Shape Struggles


A great example of this is the rotated square. Even though it is exactly the same shape with four right angles, children often see it as a kite rather than a square. Feel free to use some of our Question Sets, Co Shapes and Pra misconception.


Compare and ClaCllass fy Geometr ractisise 2D Sh


ssify Shapes es to explore this


I hope these examples of the most common mistakes are useful to your teaching. If you would like access to all the Question Sets mentioned in this article, and over 1,000 other Question Sets


science and English, covering curriculum


today. May 2019


register for a free account aligned topics in maths,


tric


Pictogram questions are often a favourite because they are perceived as ‘easier’. However, many come unstuck because they may not be able to correctly interpret the value of one symbol. Our Question Set, Interp Pictogra


rpret and Pres esent Data ta using with the Sa th Same Denominator. • Converting units ofmeasure


This is a problem because some children don’t how many millimetres there Try these questions to rning: Co re.


Convert Betwe ts ofMeasure ween


p develop this understanding. ts and


rpret Pie Ch Charts thod.


When performing written calculations, children may reverse or not add carried digits, so if the ones column totals 37 they carry the seven instead of the three. Here are a few questions that will help to consolidate their rs


ts using


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