Adult Numeracy, Functional Maths, and GCSE Resources

Topical resource based on a news story. Reading comprehension at 2 levels (E3 and L1/L2) plus two writing extension activities with writing frames. Some embedded maths (including a chart in the L1/L2 exercise) and the opportunity to discuss healthy eating. The higher level comprehension aims to get learners to understand in depth what they are reading, rather than just answer the questions from the text.

Based on two recent articles / surveys on Black Friday shopping, the main focus of this resource is Functional Mathematics but there is also an introductory page of English questions that check vocabulary, purpose of text and the ability to extract meaning from graphical material and captions.

This is followed by three pages of challenging differentiated questions for E3-L2 Functional Maths – all are based on the infographics within the text. Topics include large numbers, percentages, fractions and the four operations.

This is an adaptation of Murder at the Grange, which my students have always enjoyed.

I wanted to extend the work on calculating with time, so learners have to use and extend timetables and calculate multi-stage journey times. I also thought it would be good to have some female characters!

A set of questions about an advertisement for motorbikes. Students are asked to find information about the store, as well as comparing the prices of motorbikes for sale. Provides practice in scanning, skimming, comparing numbers, etc.
Answer key included.

This resource was created for Adult Literacy Entry 3 Learners but can be used with mixed ability groups from E2 – L1. It includes reading comprehension and related exercises covering many curriculum areas, based on the Guy Fawkes Night theme.

The first section is a comprehension based on the history of Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night. The text is suitable for E3-L2. Questions cover general comprehension, punctuation, homophones/spellings, proper nouns, alphabetical order and dictionary work. Some questions are also suitable for E2.

A really unusual reading comprehension exercise that also tests a range of maths skills (dates, large numbers, distance, etc.). Although the general reading level is around Level1 it is based on an Australian news article about a lottery winner and contains a lot of unfamiliar Australian vocabulary. Thus it also stretches Level 2 learners. An optional glossary is provided; this includes words such as swag, Slikpik, shire and half a dozen more.

A multi-functional resource for Literacy or Numeracy. Sample TV listings by day, programme, start and end times, channel and genre. Use for alphabetic or numeric sorting, skimming and scanning exercises, literacy social sight vocabulary for days of the week, numeracy exercises for calculating time, etc. This resource contains some sample exercise questions to use which can be developed further according to need. I laminated the sheets and then cut up into days so lower level learners can move the elements around. Higher level learners can work from the whole page sheets as well.

09-10 Football Season is a wonderful way to engage mixed ability groups of footie fans!
Covers formulating an argument, discussion, recognising points of view – facts & opinions, writing sentences & paragraphs.
Maths aspects include extracting information from tables, averages, ratios, and addition & subtraction.

A short article with multiple choice questions and ideas for discussion. Several of the questions also require general L1 numeracy skills with time and large numbers, making this a good all round starter activity.

Two pancake texts to read, questions to answer, recipes to re-size (simple ratios) and instructions to match and order. Wonderful topical work for Entry 2 to Level 1.