Determining the starting point for instruction

The teacher has gained initial information about the students’ knowledge, skills and understanding in the Number Strand (Substrand: Chance) from their Year 3 reports.

The students were recently assessed to determine their achievement in relation to Stage 1 and Stage 2 outcomes for the Chance Substrand, and the starting point for instruction.

The assessment has indicated to the teacher that Emma can:

• describe the element of chance for familiar activities
• sort and describe familiar events as being ‘possible’ or ‘impossible’ by choosing a picture of a particular event and explaining why the event is possible or impossible
• compare two familiar events and explain which event is more likely or less likely to occur.

The teacher has identified that Emma has an understanding of the following language relevant to the unit of work:

always
impossible
less likely
likely
maybe

more likely
never
possible
sometimes
sure

unlikely
unsure
will happen
won’t happen

The teacher has identified that Emma does not have an understanding of the following language relevant to the unit of work:

certain
equal chance

fifty-fifty
likelihood

one chance in two
uncertain