Cabbage Patch & Chunking

I've heard the terms 'cabbage patching' and 'chunking' thrown around during educational talks, but I didn't understand what they meant until today. In one of our maths sessions, the tutor explained and worked through and example, before letting us have a go for ourselves. :)

At school, I quite like maths but I decided not to keep it on after GCSE. Consequently, the maths lessons here on my PGCE have been my first in nearly 6 years! This class was the first where we were able to pick up something completely new and attempt it ourselves - that might not sound like the most enjoyable hour, but actually, it was great. Getting to try something and having the satisfaction of working it out successfully felt amazing. If we have a few more sessions like that, I think these four hour Tuesday mornings of maths might become something really positive. :)

The top example below shows cabbage patching using squared paper, where, if necessary, a child could count the number of squares in each box to calculate the multiplication each represents. As a child's confidence develops, they need not draw the cabbage patch to scale, as shown by the second example. The third is an example of chunking - a method of long division. :)