Adult Numeracy, Functional Maths, and GCSE Resources

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.

This worked well as a bit of revision on measuring for a mixed class E2-L2. Also makes a good warm-up activity.
I’ve used different colours for easier and harder answers, so you can differentiate when you give the cards out (blue ones are supposed to be a bit easier, red ones a bit harder, and purple in between).

Five wonderful sets of multiple choice revision questions covering Level 1 ratio, mean & range, fractions, percentages, and number (mostly place value & rounding). Each set consists of 9 cards and is individually mapped to the numeracy curriculum.
Cut up into cards and use as required. Use individual sets for targeted revision or mix with other sets of cards for general revision.

‘I have…Who has?’ is a fast-paced coin counting game that has been adapted from a game on Super Teacher Worksheets

For the game to work correctly all of the worksheets need to be distributed to your students so some students may get more than one card. This could be used as a way to differentiate with the higher level students being given more cards to work with.

A set of posters / cards / checklists designed to prompt discussion, check learning and keep a record of student progression. Designed for Entry Level Functional Maths and English learners in an FE setting but suitable for all levels and subjects.
This resource was inspired by discussion on the NCETM (National Centre for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics) site about “understanding versus doing” and I would like to thank the forum members for their ideas and feedback.

A 16 piece jigsaw puzzle where the triangular pieces form a parallelogram. Learners to match up questions on fractions of money to the correct answers. Use for revision or as a warm-up activity.

Whatever their original format, all Tarsia jigsaws can also be printed out as flashcards / dominoes.

You will need Tarsia Formulator in order to use this resource. To download this excellent free educational tool visit Hermitech
See our Good Software – Tarsia Formulator entry for more information.

A challenging warm-up for Level 2 students. Create flow charts and calculate with units of time.

A set of two posters for the classroom – also useful as handouts.
Formulae (L2)
I asked a group of my learners to come up with a short and snappy set of rules for using formulae. One of the group wrote the rules in the form of a poster, from which I developed this poster.
Covers general rules for using formulae such as order of operations (BIDMAS). Plus a separate page specifically for using a formula to find the area of a circle.

A set of 2 posters for the classroom – also useful as handouts.
Metric measures (L1 upwards) – clarifies metric prefixes
Imperial measures (L1-2) – I’m not expecting students to know or learn these facts but this poster makes a useful discussion prompt (about the difficulties of working with Imperial measures and how much easier it is to use metric units) and also includes interesting facts about the history of Imperial units.

Lovely warm-up or “taster “ for L1-2 level groups. The idea could easily be adapted for Entry Level groups.
Just as the quote on the resource says:“The value of the problem is not so much in coming up with the answer as in the ideas and attempted ideas it forces on the would be solver.”
See comments below for some suggested answers. Please add your own answers or suggestions for other suitable groups.