Hand Gestures

Description

Hand gestures are used to emphasise maths symbols and aid pupil learning during a KS2 maths lesson.

The teacher leads a numeracy lesson using karate-style moves, such as chops and punches, to emphasis the symbols for addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. Pupils then use the moves when working on written maths problems.

Philippa Cordingley, director of the Centre for the Use of Research and Evidence in Education, observes the lesson and explains that the technique makes learning more visible and physical which aids learning, especially when dealing with abstract problems.

The technique, shown at Heather Primary School, can also be adapted to support literacy, with different gestures for punctuation marks.

Part of the series: Proven to Work