Addition and Subtraction - Checking strategies - Worksheet

The "Checking Strategies" worksheet is a valuable educational resource aimed at enhancing Year 6 pupils' fluency and precision in mathematics. It aligns with the National Curriculum objective to estimate and use inverse operations for verifying answers to calculations, as well as solving two-step addition and subtraction problems. The worksheet provides differentiated sheets and teaching slides to cater to varying levels of student ability. Key vocabulary for the lesson includes addition, subtraction, and inverse operations. The activities encourage children to use inverse operations as a method of checking their answers, emphasising the importance of employing a different method to avoid repeating the same errors.

Students are prompted to consider how they can determine if their answer is sensible and to explore the concept of inverse operations for both addition and subtraction. The exercises are designed to build confidence and competence in using multiples of 10 for calculations, as well as a broader range of numbers. Through reasoning and problem-solving tasks, children work towards fluency by using numbers that are multiples of 10, while those aiming for greater depth will tackle a wider array of numbers. The worksheet also poses thought-provoking questions about the placement of the equal sign and encourages students to write additional related addition and subtraction facts based on given calculations.