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A structured scope and sequence serves as the backbone of effective teaching and learning. It provides teachers with a clear roadmap, ensuring that each concept builds upon the foundation laid before it. By carefully sequencing mathematical topics and activities, Structured Maths Approach empowers young learners to gradually develop their skills and confidence. With a well-organized structure, teachers can create a supportive learning environment that allows students to thrive, leading to a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts. This links specifically to the New Zealand Curriculum ensuring you are meeting the needs of your students and aligning with progress outcomes and learning.
Read on below to understand the specifics around Structured Maths Approach, what informs it and the research behind it.
Structured Maths Approach is not a pedagogy or a curriculum. But a resource to support and provide a scope and sequence for New Zealand setting.
Explicit instruction is something specifically woven into New Zealand Curriculum with clearly sequenced curriculum progressions, learning that is a focus and steps on how they are able to build success. Furthermore, explicit instruction means that teachers are being intentional with their delivery of lessons and learning, with modelling, guiding and facilitating; ensuring progressive mastery.
Structured Maths Approach is built on a progression of clear learning lessons covering its unique scope and sequence to support New Zealand Curriculum knowledge. This allows for regular opportunities to be engaged in explicit instruction through the gradual release of responsibility and Science of Math key concepts. Building mastery and practice following explicit instruction happens naturally in the lesson, which is essential for developing automatic recall and working memory.
Read more about explicit instruction from Barak Rosenshine (2012); covered by Jamie Clark.
The New Zealand curriculum refresh brought out many new changes to maths in NZ, with the main being the change around to curriculum levels. Typically, the NZ Curriculum has had curriculum levels with achievement objects for students to achieve in those levels. With this refresh, the levels have been taken away and reworked into the 'understand, know, do' through progress steps and outcomes.
Structured Maths Approach is aligned to the progress outcomes, covering number know hows. Featured and covered in the lessons Phase 1-9 are:
Read the comparison between The New Zealand Curriculum refresh and Structured Maths Approach which you can find here on the resource page.
Structured Maths Approach provides you with everything you need to get started with a structured scope and sequence. You don't need to go out and purchase additional materials or resources; it can be used alongside what you have already. Users praise how this resource is made with teachers in made, making it easy to implement and incorporate.
Structured Maths Approach comes with:
Once you have made your purchase, there are no additional purchases required making sure you have everything you need for a successful mathematics programme.
The 'I do, we do, you do' model is based upon the gradual release of responsibility from teacher to student. This encourages all students to master what they need to learn, nurtures elf-efficacy and reduces anxiety from students within lessons.
Structured Maths Approach uses this model in learning lessons to allow students to successfully follow, increase their confidence and allow for the teacher to differentiate based on needs. Whether using Structured Maths Approach as a whole class or group approach; the lesson sequence allows for them to build success and conceptualise the learning.
Download this freebie help sheet to have this next to you in your teaching practice.
The Science of Maths is a movement focused on using objective evidence about how students learn maths. It talks about blending of key concepts woven together to build maths proficiency. These are:
In addition to this, The Science of Maths talks about teachers using a progression of maths learning, using multiple approaches to meet the needs of students, using explicit regular instruction and formative assessment on a regular basis to assess student learning.
Structured Maths Approach is built on a progression of clear learning lessons covering its unique scope and sequence. It strives on the importance of having regular and explicit teacher instruction from assessment and knowing your students needs. Structured Maths Approach builds on knowledge prior and provides a wide range of learning concepts and procedures that blend those skills together.
For Structured Maths Approach, it was vital that the lesson sequence for teachers and students to follow was an opportunity to bring explicitness, systematic and sequential opportunities of learning. Research indicates the need for this in building explicit instruction and as a key principle of instruction in the classroom.
This lesson sequence was adapted from a 'structured literacy' lense, inspiring the creation of a layered building block of knowledge for students to grow and learn and have opportunities for that 'high stakes' ceiling learning. It was extremely important that Structured Maths Approach offered that same consistency for teachers to build confidence with using mathematics and for its success.
The lesson sequence is used in every lesson, whether you are using Structured Maths Approach in whole class, small groups or workshops. This helps build routine, consistency and strong instructional practices that offer daily review, small steps, guided practice and support with cognitive load theory.
A copy of the lesson sequence is in the front of each Structured Maths Approach resource.
Structured Maths Approach was a name created by teachers as it's a resource for teachers to use. The name has caused quite a lot of controversy, but broken down it means:
Structured - Providing a clear pathway, structure, scope and sequence
Maths - Through the Maths curriculum area
Approach - Not a curriculum, strategy or framework. But an approach to guide you through the learning.
My name is Jordan Priestley, the founder of Mrs Priestley ICT.
Teaching is not just my profession; it is my true passion. Over the years, I have witnessed the transformative power of education, and particularly mathematics, in shaping young minds. My dedication to teaching and my commitment to providing high-quality resources led me to create Structured Maths Approach. It is my heartfelt desire to instil a love for mathematics in students at an early age, laying a strong foundation for their future academic and personal growth. And the best part is a structured approach that builds on the key skills right from when they first start school.
Structured Maths Approach launched out into classrooms in July, 2023 after a long period of creation, iteration, trial and error, feedback and focus groups. It is a resource that is truely responsive to teachers needs, teachers requests and something missing from education.
Structured Maths Approach
Jordan Priestley | info@mrspriestleyict.com
Jordan Priestley is an educator from Auckland, New Zealand.
She has over twelve years teaching experience and six years in resource creating. Jordan has a Postragraduate Diploma in Education, two Masters (Masters of Contemporary Education and Masters in Education), also gaining other qualifications and awards within the education sector. Jordan is beginning her third masters - Master of Professional Studies in Mathematics over 2025 and 2026.
Jordan is also a New Zealand and international presenter, working with companies like Seesaw and Google in the education field.
Structured Maths Approach has been written by educators from New Zealand that have experience working with students and from within the classroom. All six curriculum writers bring a vast wealth of knowledge, experience and learning across Year 0-8 and through a range of leadership positions. Meet these six fabulous educators below:
Kia ora- I am Lesley Moloney. I am a classroom teacher and Deputy Principal at a lovely little school just out of Pukekohe. I love teaching and I also love learning new things and ways to improve my teaching practice. I like to keep fit and active by walking and going to the gym. I have set myself a challenge of completing at least one super challenging walk every year.
I have three teenage children and a husband, we live on a farm in Onewhero with mainly beef cattle and a couple of cats and a dog.
Kia ora koutou, My name is Hayley and I live in the sunny Bay of Plenty. I teach in the senior school and am so excited to be a part of the structured maths approach! I am really passionate about reducing workload for kaiako; work smarter not harder!
Kia ora! I'm Cindy Bowers, a dedicated educator with over 20 years of experience in the teaching profession. I've spent 8 years as a teaching principal and am currently back in the classroom, teaching Year 1 and 2 students. I'm also an Across School Teacher (AST) for our Kahui Ako. I'm passionate about integrating maths into classrooms in a way that excites our tamariki, boosts teacher confidence, and reduces workload. I love sharing my knowledge and enthusiasm for maths, and I'm committed to making a positive impact on both students and teachers.
Kia Ora teaching friends! I’m Chelsea Donaldson, a passionate teacher who places an importance on breaking down learning into simple and manageable steps, helping students understand the “why” and making learning fun. Scaffolding learning and lots of enthusiasm is of great importance and helps students have a growth mindset and get that “light bulb” moment. I feel very privileged to be a part of creating a resource which makes learning maths easy, fun and relatable to our akoanga and curriculum in Aotearoa.
Hi I'm Jody Ferrick - a junior school teacher from Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. I am passionate about fostering a love for learning and engaging tamariki in hands-on experiences
I am thrilled to have the opportunity to share my teaching knowledge and provide support to fellow educators. With years of experience in the classroom, I understand the challenges teachers face and am passionate about making their days a bit easier.
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