Adult Numeracy, Functional Maths, and GCSE Resources

Here is another Level 1-2 variant on the classic ‘Smarties’ investigation which incorporates the use of a PC and Excel. I stopped using Smarties and Skittles because of the health and hygiene issues.

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.

An E3-L1 Functional Maths, English and ICT task first used with learners at Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme. Plan and cost a restaurant meal for 20 officials (originally held at Frank and Benny’s, Chingford, but you will need to provide menus from a favourite local restaurant or chain) and then present your results in a spreadsheet..

An interesting worksheet that covers both literacy and numeracy. Best used with an interactive food label on the UK Government Eatwell site but the questions can also be answered using the provided printout.
Covers reading comprehension (scanning), extracting information from tables, using decimals and place value.

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.

This uses the Olympic games 2012 as a focus.The main emphasis is maths / numeracy but ICT and English reading skills are also covered.

[img_assist|nid=4367|title=|desc=|link=popup|align=left|width=70|height=100]Learners will read dates by looking at a calendar and marking on when the Olympics start and finish (including the Paralympics), read times that the football events start and finish and put these on a clockface, and read prices of tickets of a match that they choose. There are also questions on shapes, number, money and doubling.