For instance, the warming-up can be as follows. A teacher asks the students:
- Think of a number from 1 to 9.
- Multiply it by 9.
- If you have a two-digit number, add the digits together.
- Take away 5.
- Multiply the number by itself.
- The answer is 16. Olga Vavelyuk / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 199 ( 2015 ) 44 – 49 47
- Can you explain how it works?
Since we deal with mathematically minded students, even if their level of English is not too high, they are eager to demonstrate that they are good at maths, they know the answer and they try to explain the puzzle. They correct themselves and their classmates while giving explanation and try to make it as clear as they can. Mind maps, asking questions using visuals and demonstration of experiments which the students are supposed to explain are good instruments for triggering students’ activity at the very start.
To help learners remember a new vocabulary we developed learning activities that also proliferate teachers’ ideas.