Mastery Lesson Structure – Six parts

1. Recap/easy win:

- This is a quick task to recap prior learning. All pupils should be able to access the activity without any teacher input.  Starters on WRM, Flashback 4 and Mathsbot are both good resources to use. Ensure that children are given opportunities to think about what they have learnt previously and not just given a list of the same operations. This should build confidence prior to the new learning.

2. New learning:

- This section introduces the main mathematical concepts of the lesson. You can use the White Rose resources for guidance or NCETM resources for even smaller steps. You may need to recap previous year groups learning to ensure that new concepts are understood. Imagine trying to follow a set of directions without any points of reference to begin from. Make sure that pupils know where the new learning (schema) fits into their overall understanding.

3. Talk task – Making talk count

- The focus of this activity is to practice new learning through talk using key mathematical vocabulary. Children should work in mixed ability pairs or table groups. True or false and always, sometimes, never questions work well. Teachers should model reasoning skills out loud. Talking about a problem or question using a mathematical representation e.g. part whole model, number line or bar model helps to focus the talk. Remember – the answer is only the beginning; ask children to explain, justify and prove their work to encourage deeper thinking.

4. Develop understanding

-This segment builds on the talk task and helps children to deepen their understanding by using manipulatives, representations and questioning. What is the same? What is different? Can you describe what you did? Can you draw it for me? Can you show me using a resource? How do you know? Can you prove it? Are you convinced? Why? Explain how you did it. E.g. a shared example.

5. Independent task

- This enables the pupils to practice the learning independently. All pupils should be given access to concrete and pictorial resources to enable them to fully understand the learning. Once they are secure with the concepts, they can move on to more abstract methods. All children should be given opportunities to be stretched.

6. Plenary

- The final part of the lesson should be used to check understanding and celebrate success. Self and peer assessment can be used to give instant feedback and allow a chance to talk through mistakes and prove why they think that they are correct. Reasoning questions can be used here to give children a chance to apply the new learning in a ‘test’ situation. Testbase and WRM have good example to use. Check learning with live marking and ensure understanding before moving on. You may need to revisit the step during the following lesson/s.