Add excitement and challenge using QR codes in this KS2 polygons maths lesson…
A few years ago Pokemon Go took the world by storm, exciting millions of children and adults alike. I became a little obsessed myself; though I never did manage to ‘catch ‘em all’.
At the time of the game’s takeover, I was undergoing my second PGCE placement. I realised the potential to use this phenomenon to my advantage and engage my class in a maths topic that can otherwise be a little bit prescriptive and boring. Behold, ‘scan ‘em all’ was born!
KS2 polygons learning objectives
- Be able to identify and sort polygons as regular or irregular
- Know the properties of regular and irregular polygons
- Know how to use a tablet to scan QR codes and retrieve information
Starter activity
Ask children to tell you what they know about shapes already. You can encourage this discussion by drawing and naming four polygons on the board, then asking the class to give you five things they can tell you about the shapes on display.
Or ask them to explain what’s the same and what’s different about the shapes. It’s best to have pupils in pairs or groups.
give them a print out of the information on the board, allowing them to annotate as they discuss the shapes.
Karl McGrath is a Year 6 teacher and computing lead. He is an NCCE facilitator, runs a CAS community of practice and was the first to receive the Primary Certificate in Computing Education.
