About Jimmy Maths

Jimmy Maths is founded by Mr Jimmy Ling,

a Math teacher from Singapore. He graduated
from the National University of Singapore (NUS)
with a degree in Mathematics and has more than
10 years of teaching experience.

Together with a team of 10 other tutors and content

Specialists, they have coached hundreds of students
to prepare them for Primary School Leaving
Examinations (PSLE) in Singapore.

Jimmy Maths offers Online Math courses for Primary

and Secondary Schools. To find out more, kindly visit
www.jimmymaths.com

© Jimmy Maths Pte Ltd 1

 Word From the Author

Hi There,

You have made a smart move in getting this guide to Model Drawing.

Model Drawing (or Bar Model) is a pictorial method to solve word

problems in Singapore Primary Schools.

By using bar model to represent an unknown quantity, students are

able to able to visualize the question more clearly. They are able to
tell the relationship of different items by the length of the models.
From Mr Jimmy Ling,
In this guide, you will learn the basics of model drawing followed by
Founder of Jimmy Maths
the art and science of drawing good models. Based on the models drawn,
you will be able to understand the question clearly and deduce the solutions.

Have fun learning!

© Jimmy Maths Pte Ltd 2
 Contents

Title Page Number

About Singapore Math 5
Basics of Model Drawing 9
Part Whole Model 13
Comparison Model 15
Before and After Model 17
Online Course 18

© Jimmy Maths Pte Ltd 3

 About Singapore Math

Singapore Math is a teaching method based on the national mathematics

curriculum used for kindergarten through sixth grade (Primary 6) in Singapore.

Singapore students have shown remarkable results based on international

assessments. TIMSS, an international assessment for math and
science among fourth and eighth graders, ranked Singapore's fourth and
eighth grade students first in mathematics four times (1995, 1999, 2003, and 2015).

Singapore Math was first coined in the United States, after professional
mathematicians in the U.S. took a closer look at Singapore mathematics textbooks.
They started distributing these textbooks to schools and they gradually gained
popularity due to the effectiveness and ease of understanding.

Now, other countries like Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Canada, Israel and
United Kingdom are using Singapore Math to teach their students.
© Jimmy Maths Pte Ltd 4
 About Singapore Math

Singapore math teaches students mathematical concepts in a three-step learning process: Concrete, Pictorial, and Abstract.

In the Concrete Phase, students learn by handling real objects such as apples and blocks.
They will count these objects by physically lining them up in a row and learn basic arithmetic operations such as addition
or subtraction by physically adding or removing the objects from each row.

© Jimmy Maths Pte Ltd 5

 About Singapore Math

After students are familiar with the concrete phase, they will advance to the Pictorial Phase.

In this phase, students will draw boxes around each picture. Gradually, they will drop the pictures and simply draw the boxes
with labels.

This is called the Model Drawing Method which we will learn in this guide.

© Jimmy Maths Pte Ltd 6

 About Singapore Math

Achieving mastery in the pictorial phase will provide a strong foundation of the next phase – Abstract Phase.

In the Abstract Phase, students will learn how to replace the bar models with letters or symbols.

Over time, they will drop the boxes and learn Algebraic methods to solve Math equations.

x  x  10  50
2 x  10  50
2 x  50  10
2 x  60
x  30

© Jimmy Maths Pte Ltd 7

 Basics of Model Drawing - 3 Types of Model

1) Part Whole Model

3) Before and After Model
John spent $20 on food and half of his remaining money on shirts. Mary gives $20 to Jane.
Total $20 Mary $20
Jane $20
food shirts
2) Comparison Model Mary

Peter has 20 more apples than pears Jane $20

Apples
Pears
20

© Jimmy Maths Pte Ltd 8

 Basics of Model Drawing - Length

If the units are not the same value, draw different length for each unit.

Example

Class A and Class B have the same number of students.

1 1
of Class A and of Class B are boys.
2 3
Boys Girls

A
B

Boys Girls
© Jimmy Maths Pte Ltd 9
 Basics of Model Drawing - Labelling

Top Label
Unit Label

Side Label A 20
Total Label
B
Difference Label

© Jimmy Maths Pte Ltd 10

 Basics of Model Drawing - Cutting and Shading of Model

Cut Models Using Dotted Lines.

Shade Models that are gone or given away.

Example
1 1
Peter gives of his money to Mary and of his remaining money to Jane.
2 3

Mary Jane

© Jimmy Maths Pte Ltd 11

 Part Whole Model - Basic Concept

Mavis bought 9051g of flour. She used 3317g of flour to bake a large cake and 2626g of flour

to bake a small cake. How much flour had she left?

Flour 3317g 2626g ? Total amount of flour bought = 9051g

Total amount of flour used = 3317g + 2626g
9051g = 5943g
Total amount of flour left = 9051g - 5943g
= 3108g
Ans: 3108 g

© Jimmy Maths Pte Ltd 12

 Part Whole Model - Remainder Concept

2 1
Craig has some stickers. He gave to his sister and gave of the remaining stickers to his brother.
3 2
He is left with 6 stickers. How many stickers did Craig have at first?

Remaining
Total stickers 6 Total number of stickers left  1 unit = 6
sister brother Left Total number of stickers at first  6 units
=6  6
= 36

Ans: 36 stickers

© Jimmy Maths Pte Ltd 13

 Comparison Model – 2 Items

Alice and Cindy have 273 books altogether. Alice has 19 fewer books than Cindy.

How many books does Cindy have ?

1 unit 2 units + 19 = 273

Alice
19 2 units = 273 – 19
273 2 units = 254
Cindy 1 unit = 127
Cindy: 1 unit + 19 = 127 + 19
= 146
Ans: Cindy has 146 books
© Jimmy Maths Pte Ltd 14
 Comparison Model – 3 Items

Alice, Bernice and Charles have 273 books altogether. Alice has 119 books while

Bernice has 22 fewer books than Alice. How many books does Charles have ?

119

Alice A  119

Bernice
22 273 B  119 – 22
= 97
Charles C  273 – 119 – 97
= 57
?
© Jimmy Maths Pte Ltd Ans: Charles has 57 books 15
 Before and After Model – Constant Part

Amy and Bryan had some stickers. Amy had 8 more stickers than Bryan at first. When Bryan gave 10 stickers

away, Amy had 3 times as many stickers as Bryan. How many stickers did the two of them have in the end?
3 units
Amy had 8 more
stickers than Bryan A 1 unit 10 8

1 unit 10
Bryan gave 10 stickers B
away

Amy had 3 times as 2 units = 10 + 8 = 18

many stickers as 1 unit = 9
Bryan
4 units = 36

© Jimmy Maths Pte Ltd 16

 Before and After Model – Transfer

Samuel and Ryan had 160 video games altogether. Samuel gave 21 video games to Ryan. In the end, Samuel

had 4 more video games than Ryan. How many video games did Samuel have at first?

Samuel 4 more than

Ryan S 21
R 21
4
Return 21 from Ryan to
Samuel to get the 160 + 4 = 164
model in the beginning
164 ÷ 2 = 82

82 + 21 = 103

© Jimmy Maths Pte Ltd 17

Before You Go… Check Out This Online Course

Model Drawing Online Course for Primary School

- Learn Through Recorded Videos with Step by Step Explanations

- Master the Basics of Model Drawing

- Cultivate the Best Habits in Good Model Drawing

- Understand How to Deduce the Solutions from the Model Drawn

- Access to lots of Challenging Word Problems for Practice

Find Out More Here:

https://jimmymaths.com/product/singapore-math-model-drawing-online-course/

© Jimmy Maths Pte Ltd 18