This pupil-facing companion uses four numbered Problem-Solving Loop boxes. It presents one decision at a time so pupils can plan a chain of calculations before calculating.
Three modes
- Plan and solve: order the required step cards and explain each operation.
- Repair a plan: identify an invalid dependency, irrelevant quantity or wrong use of an intermediate result.
- Compare plans: decide which proposal preserves the relationships and answers the final question.
The four anchors
- Read it / Write it: choose the final question, then classify known quantities, the intermediate result and the final unknown.
- Show it / Build it: put the steps in order, then construct both connected bar models. For each information card, select the part of the active bar where it belongs using a pointer, touch, Enter or Space. Accepted information is drawn into the model; the result from Step 1 then appears as an input to Step 2. Choose each operation only after its bar is complete.
- Solve it: calculate only the current unlocked step. A division remainder is interpreted before its contextual value enters Step 2.
- Check it: use an inverse or rebuild a division with its remainder, then choose a complete answer with the correct meaning and unit.
Prompt fading offers Full prompts, Reduced prompts and Independent support while keeping the four anchors stable.
Teacher worksheet
Print Worksheet opens a protected lesson-pack builder for Teach together, guided, independent, diagnose and Check understanding sheets with matching teacher guidance and answers. The header Print button still prints only the current display.
Back returns to the previous decision or view without deleting completed work. Need help? first gives structural support. In Solve it, a second press can reveal only the current step. Show plan temporarily replaces the calculation or answer view. New uses an unseen task in the current mode. Start again clears pupil responses for the same problem. Restore starting problem is inside Setup.
Links to Bar Model, Column Calculation, Written Multiplication and Written Division open the selected single calculation in a new tab without revealing its answer. Those tools keep ownership of formal-calculation teaching.
