Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division - Factors - Planning

In a Year 6 mathematics lesson focusing on multiplication and division, students explore the concept of factors through hands-on and interactive activities. The lesson begins with a review of the relationship between multiplication and division, using arrays as a visual aid. The first activity challenges students to arrange 20 counters into different arrays, discovering the various factors of 20 by examining the number of counters in each row or column. This exercise helps children to grasp that factors are numbers that multiply together to produce a product, and they come in pairs. The students then use counters to represent the factors of 18 in different arrays, reinforcing their understanding of how to identify factors systematically.

As the lesson progresses, students engage in a variety of tasks designed to deepen their understanding of factors. They are asked to identify the factors of 60 from a list, using their knowledge of times tables to determine if 60 is divisible by those numbers. The lesson emphasises a systematic approach to finding factor pairs, starting with the number 1. Further activities involve working out the missing factors of 12 and 24 and finding all factor pairs of 42. Group work and differentiated worksheets provide opportunities for students to reason and prove their understanding. The plenary session includes reflective questions that encourage students to consider how factors work and how to use multiplication and division facts to find them. The lesson aims to clear up common misconceptions, such as confusing factors with multiples, and concludes with students making a "pinkie promise" to remember the key points from the session, ensuring a solid grasp of identifying factors of whole numbers.