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Different ways to differentiate with iMaths

iMaths 20/5/21

Note: iMaths is in its final year and will be discontinued at the end of 2024. If you’re looking for a primary maths resource written for the Australian Curriculum Version 9.0, explore Maths Trek.

iMaths offers many differentiation options so you can cater for a range of abilities within your class and engage all of your students in effective learning experiences.

Start with differentiation tasks

Log in to iMaths Online to find printable differentiation tasks for each topic. These tasks come in three levels – support, consolidation and extension. They can be used in addition to the student book activities as the ‘you do’ part of your explicit teaching lesson.

• Support tasks assist students who struggle with topic concepts. You can also use them as a diagnostic tool to gauge students’ prior knowledge before starting a topic.
• Consolidation tasks give students additional opportunities to apply their knowledge of topic concepts.
• Extension tasks keep fast finishers engaged with opportunities for higher-order thinking.

You can also use differentiation tasks for revision, assessment or homework. For more ideas on how to use the differentiation tasks, watch the iMaths Differentiation tutorial.

Extend fast finishers with challenges

Many topics in the student books contain challenges that require students to apply their knowledge of concepts to a more complex problem. Use these challenges to keep fast finishers engaged and motivated.

Group students effectively in your investigations

Before an investigation, gauge student ability by making observations when teaching the prerequisite topics. From there, decide whether same-ability or mixed-ability groups will work best for your class when conducting the investigation.

Mixed-ability groups have mentoring benefits. They allow students to collaborate and naturally determine who can help who work towards the common goal of the investigation. Your more capable students get the value of becoming leaders and mentors. This encourages them to think critically about how to explain ideas to their peers who have different levels of knowledge and skills. Meanwhile, struggling students are supported to consolidate their understanding.

With same-ability groups you can shape the investigation to suit the abilities of each group of students. You can confidently set a more competent group to work independently and extend themselves using the inquiry task included at the end of every investigation. This frees up your time to work more closely with your struggling students, providing prompting and assistance as they work through the investigation.

Look for opportunities to be flexible with investigations

The flexible nature of investigations provides an abundance of opportunities to cater for different learning abilities. For ideas, read our article: Adapt your investigations to suit your classroom.

Consolidate with interactive games

Use the iMaths Online games as a fun way for students to practise and revise their number concepts. Available from Foundation to Year 6, each game has a range of difficulty levels. You can project the game and play as a whole class, or students can log in to the student site to play independently.

Make the games Number Charge, Gridlock and Track It a part of your differentiation program. To find out more, read our article: Using iMaths Online games.

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