There are many problem solving resources on the market that are good for developing problem solving skills. Oracy can really help to develop these skills particularly if you develop discussion with sentence stems.
Talk it solve it is a problem solving resource created by Oxford. Each book is divided into 2 year groups and Oracy is firmly embedded within the structure of this.
Problem solving resources – How does Talk it solve it work?
When setting this up the idea is that you divide your class into groups of 3 children. Each child will be given a role within the group that can be rotated. For example one person is given the role of reading the cards out, another person is the one who turns the cards over or moves them away, a third person is the one who begins the talk and makes sure each person has a turn in giving their ideas and opinions. The cards are along the lines of the talking points activity in that they give 6 statements about a particular mathematical concept. The children are then asked to discuss each one in turn and say whether they are true or false. There are even a few red herrings thrown in to challenge your thinking.
How does this resource use Oracy to develop maths?
The Talk it solve it resource can be used in its own right as it is designed to be used and it will use talk to develop mathematical problem solving and reasoning. It already takes into account groupings and encourages talk and some basic roles. These are some basic parts of Oracy so it is great to see them included.
I also think this resource could be adapted to be used in a variety of different ways. I mentioned earlier that it is similar to the talking points activity as described by Lyn Dawes. You could therefore use this within a whole class setting split into smaller groups and discuss each point in turn as a talking point saying whether each point is true or false. This could then be developed further and you could discuss the red herrings within the task. Which statements did not matter and were not necessarily relevant to the answer for the task? As always remember to use sentence stems to provide a good scaffold for the talk.
