Adult Numeracy, Functional Maths, and GCSE Resources

This is a good starter activity to introduce measures, shape and space. It is also useful in dividing classes into small groups.

Using the templates I created I printed them on to card of different colours. I gave the shapes to the learners as they entered the room and told them to find the table with the same shape on it. When they reached the table they found the shape and some questions to answer.

After five minutes I asked for feedback from the learners.

Editor’s note
With Functional Maths mapping

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

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.

A set of cards to cut out and ideally put in plastic balls or a jazzy box. Aimed at E2- E3 Functional Skills learners as an ice breaker, introductory lesson or for revision. Students need to work out the question and identify the maths skills they are using to answer it. Best printed onto card.
Questions are aimed to appeal to young adult students – e.g. clubbing, Facebook, food, mobiles, etc.
Questions cover the 4 operations, money, time, shapes and more.
26 cards. Includes Functional Maths mapping chart.

Find out and record everyone’s favorites from a diverse list of foods. Use as an icebreaker in any Entry Level literacy, numeracy, Functional Skills or ESOL lesson.

Also ties in well with lessons on diversity, healthy eating, collecting data, making / taking simple surveys, tallies, counting, asking questions, etc.

Mapped to Functional Maths and SfL adult numeracy, Functional English (speaking, listening and communication) and SfL adult literacy.

A 12 piece jigsaw where the square pieces form a rectangle. Learners to match questions on mean, mode, median and range to the correct answers.

Whatever their original format, all Tarsia jigsaws can also be printed out as flashcards / dominoes. As the print is quite small on the standard sized puzzle, you might find it helpful to print out the larger version of the puzzle (select Output – large, i.e. three pieces per A4 sheet).

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.

[img_assist|nid=4634|title=|desc=|link=popup|align=left|width=74|height=100]3 different Tarsia puzzles covering a range of topics including: percentages. converting metric measures, addition/subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, time, etc.

Puzzle 1 – set of 24 dominoes (E3-L2)
Puzzle 2 – 24 triangular pieces (forming a hexagonal puzzle). L1-L2
Puzzle 3 – 12 piece ‘oval’ parquet puzzle (made up of 4 squares and 8 triangles). L1-L2

Two 16 piece jigsaw puzzles with triangular pieces for learners to match up. Use for revision or as a warm-up activity. One covers the 3 times tables (from 0×3 to 17×3), the other covers the 5 times table in a similar fashion. The extension beyond the normal x10 (or x12) provides an extra challenge and will help learners develop mental multiplication strategies and a sense of number patterns.

This 16 piece triangular jigsaw is a great way to practise straightforward metric conversions (click on the picture left for details) and also finding simple fractions of amounts. Covers length, weight and capacity. As usual with Tarsia puzzles, you can choose to print either a standard or large version of the puzzle (select Output – large, i.e. three pieces per A4 sheet).