Great numeracy resources

Books

Car Costs: a numeracy workbook

Car costs coverA workbook around the topic of cars and road safety, this numeracy resource is a great introduction to a range of maths and numeracy topics. It is ideal for a range of young people needing maths that links to real life contexts, and who also want to learn about the costs related to buying, running and driving a car.

 

Consumer Stuff resources

Maths-ConsumerStuffConsumer Affairs Victoria has produced a number of FREE resources called Consumer Stuff that have an applied learning focus using real-life scenarios. There are free teacher resources in the areas of Maths, English and Commerce alongside Health and Wellbeing and Consuming Planet Earth.

Note: If you are a numeracy teacher, don’t just look at the Maths book, look at Commerce, Health and Wellbeing and Consuming Planet Earth as they have great, real life based activities.

Foundation Numeracy in Context – UPDATED EDITION COMING SOON

Written by Dave Tout and Gary Motteram, Foundation Numeracy in Context argues the case for teaching maths in context and outlines different options and strategies for teaching maths and numeracy in real life contexts.

Having Fun with Maths: Activities and Games for Developing Maths Language and Skills

CoverHFWM

The games and activities in this book focus on the development of fundamental maths skills through co-operative group work and the use of hands-on materials, as well as on enjoyment and having fun in order to build confidence and overcome maths anxiety.

 

 

VicRoads VCAL Road Safety Units (2006, updated 2011 and 2012)

These 11 units combine different aspects of road safety with literacy, numeracy and generic skills such as problem solving and working in teams. Each unit contains activity outlines with comprehensive guidance to teachers, worksheets and assessment record proformas. Published by VicRoads, the units are available to download free from https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/safety-and-road-rules/road-safetyeducation/secondary-schools/vcal-road-safety-units.

Work it Out!

This resource covers 10 essential maths life skills. Each booklet addresses a different numeracy topic and is written in a clear and easy-to understand style. Produced by and available from Aspire Learning Resources.

 

Other useful print-based resources

Hands-on Maths in Practice, Thomson, S. & Forster, I. 1997. Melbourne, Pearson Education Australia.

Access to Prevocational Maths, Thomson, S. & Forster, I. 2006, Melbourne, Pearson Education Australia.

Access to Prevocational Maths 2, Thomson, S. & Forster, I. 2007, Melbourne, Pearson Education Australia.

Maths Skills for Living, & Maths Skills for Working, Vize, A. 2005. Putney NSW, Phoenix Education.

Real World Maths – Building skills for diverse learners, Vize, A. 2013, Banksia Publishing, Frankston, Vic

The Language of Maths (Secondary Level), Weber, L. 2003, Queensland, AEE Publishing.

Have a look at the EMPower set of resources available through OLM that focuses on building understanding through contextualised lessons that engage all students in a classroom: http://www.lat-olm.com.au/

 

Online and CD ROM multimedia resources

Measuring up: an interactive multimedia computer resource for numeracy learners, Tout, D. and & Marr, B. 1997.  Melbourne, Protea Textware.

Mathematics at Work, (CD-ROM), Lowe, I. 2001, Adelaide, AAMT. Available from MAV.

People Count: Numeracy for Adults, (CD-ROM), Lowe, I. 2003, Adelaide, AAMT. Available from MAV.

Video Education Australasia have a range of DVDs available, including: ALGEBRA: A Piece of Cake!, Algebraic Notation – Maths as a Foreign Language, Into the Negative Zone! Working with Integers, Let’s Get Straight: Linear Equations and Their Graphs, Life by the Numbers series, Making Sense of Percentages, That’s a Bit Steep.

 

Websites and downloads

  • Algebra Equals – a resource developed for apprentice electricians and those thinking of a career in this field.
  • Building Strength with Numeracy – developed by Beth Marr, this resource is a collection of activities that builds on and updates elements of favourite old numeracy resources such as Strength in Numbers and Breaking the Maths Barrier as well as including many new, previously unpublished ideas, activities and student practice exercises.  The activities and practice sheets span a range of levels and subject areas with some suggestions regarding links and sequencing. Available for download from VALBEC.
  • Football rules! – A resource targeted at learners with basic skills. Based around Australian Rules football, it is available for download.
  • The word on cars.
  • BBC Skillwise – Literacy, numeracy, games, learner’s stories and much more.
  • SAFE-T1: This website has a range of information and activities (online and print based) about workplace health and safety. A number of the activities are designed to develop numeracy skills.
  • Resources targeted at Indigenous learners – worth looking at (most have literacy activities and some include numeracy too). For example:
  • Financial literacy & banking:
  • Some good school maths sites with some great ideas and activities:
    • Maths 300 – an attempt to capture the 300 most interesting maths lessons from classrooms across Australia and beyond
    • nzmaths. – the home of maths education in New Zealand
    • youcubed at Stanford University – Jo Boaler’S amazing site with videos, activities and more
    • NRICH enriching mathematics – aims to enrich the mathematical experiences of all learners.

Workplace numeracy materials