A quick but very useful match-up activity that makes a good starter activity for financial literacy or employment skills courses - and it's bound to prompt discussion.
Editor's note
Written for an Australian audience but I have added a UK version on page 2. Learners can draw lines to match the items or, for a reusable resource, the page could be laminated and/or cut into 12 cards.
Level
Level 1
Level 2
Maths
Functional Maths
General numeracy / maths
Popular topics
General
Generic resources for literacy, numeracy and beyond
Reading and related activities focusing on a simplified version of a BBC news article reporting the results of the 2021 Australian Census. Ideal for practising reading strategies including: relating images to text, using headings, skimming, scanning and using context to predict. My (Australian) students found it challenging but were engaged in the content. Lots of possible ways it could lead into other written and oral activities. Numbers and a graph involved so can also be used to revise numeracy concepts such as percentages and extracting information from graphs.
Level
Level 1
Level 2
English
General literacy / English
FE READING main points & detail
FE L1.13 Use reference materials & appropriate strategies for a range of purposes, inc. to find word meanings
FE L2.15 Use a range of reference materials & resources (e.g. glossaries, legends/keys) for different purposes
Functional skills maths.
Extract information from mileage and distance (network) diagrams. Complete a mileage chart. Editor’s note
With worked solutions, pop up help and a final challenge question.
Ideal as an introduction or for revision.
An interesting meld of description, investigation, paired discussion and tasks.
Ideal introduction to L1 averages – also useful at high E3.
Adapted from one page of Nikki Gilbey’sData Collection and Averages – functional tasks (listed below under See also).
A counting game along similar lines to Snakes and Ladders. Learners will learn turn-taking, following instruction & basic counting skills. In addition, they will pick up social and communication skills along the way.
(Print onto A3 – a dice and counters needed)
Editor’s note
A PPT version is also included to enable the game to be played on a smartboard.
Level
M8
Entry Level 1
English
SLlr/E1.3
Maths
AN N1/E1.1 Count reliably up to 10 items
Functional Maths - numbers and the number system
Pre-entry
pre-Entry SLlr/M8.3 Listen to and answer simple single step instructions / requests
The main resource has four pages. Three of the pages contain a chart and a brief to a group of students to discuss and write some sentences saying what the chart tells them. The twist is that each group of 3 students has a different chart drawn from the same data as the groups next to them. The fourth page has the table from which the charts were drawn.
The charts used are: dual/clustered bar chart comparing types of drink sold on two days. A stacked/composite bar chart and a percentage bar chart of the same data.
This activity encourages ESOL students:
- To communicate with each other while moving around the classroom,
- To revise Past Simple (questions and answers),
- To practise basic numeracy (subtraction).
With extensive teachers’ notes
Level
Entry Level 2
Entry Level 1
Maths
AN N1/E3.2
ESOL
ESOL Sc/E2.2a make requests: ask for things or action
ESOL Sc/E1.1a Use stress & intonation to make speech comprehensible
ESOL Lr/E1.4a Listen and respond to requests for personal information
Page 1: 8 maths questions relating to olympic torch
Page 2: Picture quiz: who is carrying the torch?
Page 3: Picture quiz: famous UK landmarks.
Page 4: UK cities – anagrams
Page 5: Answers
Quizzes on pages 2 and 3 make good ice breakers and can also be used for SL&C discussion prompts.
Level
Level 1
English
Adult Literacy: Speaking & Listening
Maths
Functional Maths - numbers and the number system
Functional Maths - measures, shape & space
General numeracy / maths
Functional Maths
General
Generic resources for literacy, numeracy and beyond
I have found that many numeracy students get scared when you mention terms like percentages or fractions. I therefore developed this introductory activity for my new level 1 numeracy students. They are mostly young parents who were disengaged at school and have no mathematics qualifications.
They are usually nervous when they attend the first session so I try to boost their confidence and reassure them that the course will not be like school.