Although many learners find patterns and sequences (including odd & even numbers) straightforward, there is a sizeable proportion that really struggle – particularly those with dyslexia and/or dyscalculia.
This resource grew from my frustration at the lack of practice material available for this topic at Entry Levels 2 and 3 in my one to one support sessions. There is generally only one question on this topic per FS assessment, and I found it difficult to come up with real life functional problems off the top of my head.
This is a series of short job ads for a hotel (+ one for a school caretaker). Simple language and uncluttered layout..
Good for introduction to language of employment. I have used these with E1 to E3 and they work well as a differentiated resource
Higher levels can gauge implict information, especially for the school caretaker advert in writing covering application letters to include attributes such as working with children, being trustworthy and reliable etc)
Covers geometric drawings, area, perimeter, money, metric measures, tallies, line graphs and much more.
Fully mapped to the Functional Maths criteria and process skills. With answer sheet.
Editor’s note
Wonderful open ended project. Ideal for E3-L2 mixed ability groups.
A Functional Maths resource using area, multiplication, division and money. I have used Wickes catalogues with my students as they are small and easy to use, but combining the task with internet research to find the best price would be a really good way of doing this lesson.
Fully mapped to L1-2 Functional Maths criteria.
Nice selection of winter activities written for an E3-L2 Functional Skills group (best for E3-L1).
The main activities are a reading comprehension (about the history of poinsettias and how they came to be popular at Christmas time) and a cloze exercise based on an old Mexican religious legend. There are also some maths questions.
Work out the cost of carpeting a flat (compound shapes) and seeding and fencing a rectangular lawn.
The step by step problem solving approach also makes this ideal for underpinning L1 Functional Maths – although the scaffolded worksheet on page 2 can be removed for confident students or for assessment purposes. It also provides useful practice with extracting information from a room plan and price list.
Fully mapped to L1 adult numeracy and Functional Maths.
A 4 week scheme of work for OCN E3 Garden Horticulture. Great example of embedding aspects of all three Functional Skills into a vocational course. 4 × 2 hour sessions covering identifying weeds and vegetables; sowing seeds, bulbs and tubers; and preparing growing beds.
With detailed E3 Functional Maths,English and ICT mapping charts showing embedding of measuring, internet searching, reading instructions, writing plant profiles, etc.
Set of reading comprehension and computer-based research/writing task based on a set of instructions for making your own terrarium from a drinks bottle. Written for, and fully mapped to, Entry 2 Functional English and ICT, but could also be used for E1 and E3 learners.
A challenging project where students must research, plan and cost a luxury garden. Includes scale diagrams, money, and shape and space problems (paving slabs). Extension options cover percentages and averages. Great for horticulture students or anyone with an interest in gardening.
Also ideal for L1-2 Functional Maths.
The project also involves web investigation (costs of garden materials) and writing a covering letter (selling the finished garden design) and therefore also covers Functional ICT and Functional English.
Buying herbs at the garden centre is based on packets of seeds and covers addition and subtraction of decimals (money), range and mean, and scale drawings. Great for horticulture students or anyone with an interest in gardening.
The problem solving nature of many questions and the drawing a scale diagram task also makes this ideal for E3-L1 Functional Maths.
