Try it yourself: a CPA sequence

In this step we introduce a sequence of tasks from a textbook that was designed with many of the Asian maths principles in mind.

Now do the following:

1. First, look at the three pages below (pdfs are at the bottom of the step) to get a sense of the sequence of tasks.

2. Try to distinguish the different phases: what is (more) ‘Concrete’, what is more ‘Pictorial’, and what is more ‘Abstract’?

3. Now complete the tasks at the end. Try to complete them by remembering the three types of representation. Note that the idea is not that students have to do all three, but to think about the way the tasks can be represented.

4. If you would like, you can comment on this article or you can add copies or scans of your solutions to this padlet.

5. We provide our own solutions in the next step.

6. Finally, you can watch the video, where we describe the whole process in the light of CPA.

These tasks come from:

‘Max Maths Primary – A Singapore Approach’ Student’s Book 5 p.36-38 © Macmillan Publishers Limited and Star Publishing Pte Ltd 2018

‘Max Maths Primary – A Singapore Approach’ is specifically designed for International and English-medium schools that are following the Cambridge Primary maths curriculum framework.