Area of rectangles – Year 4 maths lesson

For parents: how to use this lesson

You don't need to know this topic yourself. The lesson explains each step on screen, the way Mr Euclid, our Head of Maths, likes it: one tidy step at a time. Every answer is marked straight away with a worked explanation, so you never have to mark anything.

1. Read what your child will learn together.
2. Press Start the lesson below and sit with your child for the teaching and the worked examples (about 19 minutes).
3. Let them do the practice on their own. They choose Getting started, On track or Challenge – start on On track and move up after a few right in a row.
4. Finish with the exit ticket and the talk question: “Can two rectangles have the same area but different shapes?”
5. Later that day or the next day: the homework (20 minutes), then a practice test.

Watch out for

• Mixing up area and perimeter. Area is the inside (cover it with squares); perimeter is the outside edge.
• Adding the sides instead of multiplying. Draw the rectangle on squared paper and count the squares.

Miss Hypatia's tip for home: Measure a table or a rug and work out its area.