Mental Oral Starters

Y1 Summer Teaching Sequence S7

Activity 1
Objective: Recognise squares, rectangles and triangles in different orientations,
and circles
Resources: Feely bag, square, rectangle, circle and triangle

Place a shape (square, rectangle, circle or triangle) in a feely bag and

describe it to the rest of the class, e.g. saying whether the sides are
straight or curved, how many there are and the numbers of corners.
What might it be? Do you think it might be a triangle? Why not? Draw
what you think it might look like on your whiteboards. Show me!
Repeat with other shapes.

Activity 2
Objective: Recognise squares, rectangles and triangles in different orientations,
and circles
Resources: Circles, squares, rectangles and triangles, enough for each child to
have one shape

Give each child a shape (circle, square, rectangle or triangle).

Start drawing one of these shapes on the flipchart. Only draw one bit, e.g.
a corner. If children think you are drawing their shape they hold it up.
Draw the next bit of the shape but not quite all of it. What do children
think now? Hopefully some hands will go down!
Complete the shape. Whose shape is it? What is it called?
Repeat with different shapes.

Activity 3
Objective: Know properties of 3D shapes
Resources: One for each table of cube, cuboid, sphere, cone, cylinder

Give each table the five shapes. Im thinking of one of these 5 shapes.
You can ask questions to try and work out what it is, but I can only answer
yes or no!
Children ask questions to which you answer yes or no.
Each group discuss which shape they think you are thinking of and hold up
the shape.
Reveal and repeat with at least one other shape.

Original teaching sequence copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual
users
Y1 Maths TS_S7 Mental Oral Starters - Sum

Activity 4
Objective: Know pairs with a total of 10
Resources: Fingers!

Play Flippy floppy fingers (a little like Rock, paper, scissors). Children
play in pairs. One child says flippy, floppy fingers, shaking both hands
twice as they say flippy, floppy and then holding up a number of fingers as
they say fingers. The other child has to hold up how many fingers are

needed to make 10.

Swap and repeat roles lost of times.
How quickly can the children play this game?!

Activity 5
Objective: To quickly add pairs of small numbers
Resources: Cubes

Play Flippy floppy fingers. Children play in pairs. Both say flippy, floppy
fingers, shaking one hand each twice as they say flippy, floppy and then
holding up a number of fingers on one hand as they say fingers. The first
child to correctly say the total number of fingers wins a cube.
Repeat lots of times. Who can be the first to win 10 cubes?

Original teaching sequence copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual
users
Y1 Maths TS_S7 Mental Oral Starters - Sum