A 20-Minute End-of-Term Maths Review

Six carefully chosen questions can give you a better starting point for next term than a long review quiz. Here is a 20-minute maths check on equivalent fractions, measurement and reading data. Use it with a class that has already studied these ideas; it is a small sample of their understanding, not a test of the whole term.

Download the one-page pupil sheet (PDF)

Six questions to copy into your deck

Ask pupils to choose an answer and show why. A picture, a calculation or a short sentence is enough. Keep their first attempt on paper so that a later correction does not hide the starting idea.

1. Equivalent fractions. Which fraction equals 2/3: 2/6, 4/6 or 4/3? Shade the blank sixths strip to show the same amount as the thirds strip.
2. Comparing fractions. For equal-sized wholes, which is greater: 3/4 or 3/8, or are they equal? Use the strips to explain.
3. Choosing a unit. A small water bottle holds about 500 ___. Choose mL, L or cm. Explain why your choice makes sense.
4. Measuring a length. A ribbon starts at the 2 cm mark and ends at the 9 cm mark. Is its length 7 cm, 9 cm or 11 cm? Show your calculation or count the intervals.
5. Reading a chart. Look at “Books borrowed”. How many books were borrowed on Tuesday: 5, 10 or 12? Point to the scale value you used.
6. Comparing data. How many more books were borrowed on Thursday than Monday: 6, 18 or 3? Write the calculation.

In Deck.Toys, put each pair on a Slide Activity along a short linear path. Add Text responses for answers and explanations, or Draw where you want a fraction model or marked ruler. These established response tools are covered in Slide Activities and the Maths Teachers guide. Read the explanations yourself; a correct choice alone cannot tell you whether the reasoning is sound.

The key, and what to ask next

These wrong answers are clues to possible reasoning. Ask the pupil to explain before deciding what they need.

1 — 4/6. Splitting each third into two gives six equal parts; the two shaded thirds become four shaded sixths. 2/6 may mean the pupil changed only the denominator; 4/3 may mean they changed only the numerator. Follow up: “Split every third in two. What happened to the number of shaded parts and the total number of parts?”

2 — 3/4. Fourths are larger than eighths of the same whole, so three fourths cover more. 3/8 may signal “larger denominator means larger fraction”; equal may signal attention only to the numerator. Ask them to shade 1/4 and 1/8 on equal strips, then compare three of each part.

3 — mL. 500 mL is half a litre, a sensible capacity for a small bottle. L may signal an unfamiliar scale; cm mixes length with capacity. Show a 1 L container and ask, “How many 500 mL bottles would fill this?” The answer is two.

4 — 7 cm. 9 − 2 = 7. 9 cm uses the end reading as the length; 11 cm adds the readings. Slide a paper strip from 0–7 to 2–9 on a ruler. Its length stays the same. Count seven one-centimetre intervals, not the tick marks.

5 — 10 books. Tuesday's bar reaches 10; each scale interval represents two books. 5 may mean counting intervals as single books. 12 may mean reading Thursday's bar instead. Ask the pupil to trace Tuesday's bar horizontally to the numbered axis and say the scale aloud.

6 — 6 books. 12 − 6 = 6. 18 adds the two totals; 3 compares interval counts without applying the scale. Ask, “How many books must we add to Monday's six to reach Thursday's twelve?” Check that the explanation uses books, not grid spaces.

Make the 20 minutes count

If nine minutes of independent work is too much for your class, use one pair today and the other pairs later. Keep the discussion and recheck. For next term, group by the idea that needs attention—fraction size, units, ruler intervals or chart scale—rather than by a total out of six.