Growing Patterns: Predict the Next Ones

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1 Getting Started
2 Watch and Notice
3 Try It Together
4 Draw the Pattern in Your Copy
5 Class Challenge
6 What Did We Notice?
7 What's Next
Pupil practice

1 - Getting Started ~4 mins

Look at this little staircase. The first stair is made of just 1 square. The second stair takes 3 squares. The third stair takes 5 squares.

Key point

Here is the question for today, before we work anything out: how many squares do you think the next stair would need? Have a good guess, and be ready to say why you think so.

Teacher Notes

Build the 1, 3, 5 staircase on the IWB as pupils settle, or sketch it. Take three or four hands-up guesses for the next stair and write each one on the board without saying which is right. This is a problem-first lesson, so the rule is not revealed yet — the guesses are the whole point.

Listen for anyone who already spots two more each time. Revoice it as a question to the class: so do you think it always goes up by the same amount?

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+5 XP

2 - Watch and Notice ~11 mins

Let's look at some growing patterns together. Don't worry about a rule yet — just watch carefully as I build each stage, and tell me what you notice every time a new stage appears.

Pattern A: triangles in a row

Watch as this row of triangles grows: first 1 triangle, then 2, then 3, then 4. What do you notice about how many it adds each time?

Pattern B: an L that grows

Now watch this L-shape grow: first 2 pieces, then 4, then 6, then 8. Look at the jump from one stage to the next.

Pattern C: a square pattern

Watch this one grow: first 3 pieces, then 6, then 9, then 12. How much bigger is each stage than the one before?

So here is what we noticed: in a growing pattern, each stage gets bigger by the same amount every time. That amount is called the step.

Teacher Notes

This is the inquiry heart of the lesson, so do not announce the rule first. The widget shows one grid you build onto — so build each stage in turn, pausing after each, rather than revealing the finished shape. The growing is what pupils must see.

Pattern A — place 1 triangle, then add another, then another, then another (1, 2, 3, 4). After each, ask what do you notice? Pupils should see it adds one triangle each stage (step of 1).
Pattern B — build 2 squares, then 4, then 6, then 8, pausing each time. Write the counts 2, 4, 6, 8 under the shape and ask for the jump; revoice plus two every time.
Pattern C — build 3, then 6, then 9, then 12, pausing each time. Write the counts and ask what is the step here?

If the widget will not animate stage by stage, sketch each stage beside the last on the IWB so all four stages sit side by side and the jump is visible. Only after all three patterns say the naming sentence: each stage gets bigger by the same amount, and we call that amount the step. Let it land as the pay-off, drawn from what they saw.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+10 XP

3 - Try It Together ~7 mins

Today we work through this growing pattern together on the number line: the counts are 2, 4, 6 so far. We will mark each count as a jump along the line, then mark where the next count belongs.

Key point

Each jump should be exactly the same size. Let's check ours stays the same all the way along, and then predict where the next count lands.

Mark the growing pattern

Teacher Notes

This round is for talking it through together — pupils take turns at the board and the class agrees or corrects out loud.

Mark 2, then 4, then 6 as equal jumps from 0 along the number line. Ask an individual pupil to mark where the next count (8) should go, and have the class check the jump is the same size as the others. Then try the pattern 3, 6, 9 and predict 12 the same way.

Keep returning to the same checking question: is every jump along the line the same size? That equal jump IS the step they just named.

+15 XP

4 - Draw the Pattern in Your Copy ~3 mins

COPYBOOK MOMENT

In your maths copy, draw the first three stages of a pattern that grows by 2 each time. Start with 2 squares, then 4, then 6.

Then write how many pieces stage 4 would have, even though you have not drawn it yet.

Teacher Notes

Walk the room and glance at the drawings — check each stage really does add two, not a random amount. This is whole-class copybook practice, not marking. If a pupil writes the wrong stage-4 count, prompt with how much does it grow each time? rather than giving the answer.

+10 XP

5 - Class Challenge ~8 mins

Today we work through these growing patterns on the number line. The line is already marked with the counts so far, and your job is to drag the marker to where the next count should land. Remember: every jump is the same size.

Predict the next count

Teacher Notes

This round is the practice bank — pupils take turns at the board, check each answer, and the class confirms before moving on. Keep the board work brisk rather than over-explaining.

For each challenge, ask the pupil at the board to say the step out loud before placing the marker, then press Check. The class predicts and calls out where the next count lands. Use the callout is every jump along the line the same size? to head off pupils who count unevenly. The last challenge jumps ahead to a count further along — a nice stretch for the strongest.

+15 XP

6 - What Did We Notice? ~3 mins

MATHS TALK

When you knew the step, what could you work out without building or drawing anything? Tell me how knowing the step is like a shortcut. Why is it quicker to use the step than to count every square one by one?

Teacher Notes

Listen for pupils saying the step lets them predict ahead without building each stage. Revoice a strong answer: so once you know it grows by two, you never have to draw the next stair — you can just add two.

If a pupil is unsure, point back to Pattern B: they did not need to draw stage 5 to know it would have 10 pieces, because the step of 2 told them. The step is the shortcut.

+10 XP

7 - What's Next ~2 mins

What we learned today

In a growing pattern, each stage gets bigger by the same amount — the step.
Once you know the step, you can predict a stage you have not even built yet.
Equal jumps along the number line show the step staying the same.

Coming up

Next we look at repeating patterns of shape and colour, and how finding the part that repeats lets us say what comes much further along.

Teacher Notes

Keep this brief — recap the step idea and the predicting power it gives. No need to set anything up for next lesson.

+5 XP

Pupil practice

Module 10 · Algebra: Patterns, Rules and Number Sentences Mixed

Lesson 108 · Growing Patterns: Predict the Next Ones

Download Activity Book page (PDF)

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Teacher Class Feed

1 - Getting Started ~4 mins

2 - Watch and Notice ~11 mins

Pattern A: triangles in a row

Pattern B: an L that grows

Pattern C: a square pattern

3 - Try It Together ~7 mins

Mark the growing pattern

4 - Draw the Pattern in Your Copy ~3 mins

5 - Class Challenge ~8 mins

Predict the next count

6 - What Did We Notice? ~3 mins

7 - What's Next ~2 mins

What we learned today

Coming up

Unlock the full learning experience

XP