Teacher Resource Centre

A set of teacher guides containing each 6 Mental Mathematics Lesson Starter units for Grade 3 learners, in alignment with the South African curriculum. A different calculation strategy is in focus in each unit. These calculation strategies are taken from the curriculum. Each unit covers a particular group of connected skills, and the aim is to move learners on from counting in ones on their fingers or with tally marks on paper.

Each unit is three weeks long; it begins and ends with a short test for the learners. Marking these tests provides information for the teacher and the learners about how much they have improved in using that particular set of skills during the three weeks. Within each unit, the focus is on three types of calculations: fluency, strategic calculating and strategic thinking.

Working through the Lesson Starters in each unit should lead to improvements in learners’ performance from the pre to post-tests. These improvements show progress in mental mathematics skills and number sense.

The guide is available in 11 official languages of South Africa.

The toolkit offers an introduction to gender-responsive pedagogy in early childhood education and serves as a practical guide that can be adapted to any context and the related needs. It provides teachers at early education practical tips to ensure they are able to offer children a learning environment that is free of prejudice and stereotypes. It is a source of ideas that individual teachers and school leaders can put to immediate use in their classrooms and schools. The toolkit was pre-trialled in three countries: Rwanda, South Africa and Zambia, and it can be contextualised for implementation in different African countries.