Teaching of Numeracy in the BEP Curriculum

BEP Throughlines Creating Personal Futures Developing Literate and Numerate Citizens Enhancing Skills and Attributes for Lifelong Learning Fostering Social Responsibility

What do we mean by Numerate? The Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers (AAMT) – …use mathematics effectively to meet the general demands of life at home, in paid work, and for participation in community and civic life (AAMT, 1998, p.1). Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA), - Numeracy is the effective use of mathematics to meet the general demands of life at school and home, in paid work, and for participation in community and civic life (MCEETYA, 1997, p.130)

Numeracy is the effective use of mathematics to meet the general demands of life at school and home, in paid work, and for participation in community and civic life What topics or skills from our maths curriculum do you consider to be essential in developing numerate citizens?

The ‘ Key Ideas’ of Number Level 1: Trusting the Count…. Level 2: Place Value….. Level 3: Multiplicative Thinking…. Level 4: Partitioning….. Level 5: Proportional reasoning…. Level 6: Generalising…

The key ideas addressed at each level Level 1: Trusting the Count,developing flexible mental objects for the numbers 0-10 Level 2: Place- value, the importance of moving beyond counting by ones, the structure of the base 10 numeration system Level 3: Multiplicative thinking, the key to understanding rational number and developing mental and written computation strategies in later years

Level 4: Partitioning, the missing link in building common fraction and decimal knowledge and confidence Level 5: Proportional reasoning, extending what is known about multiplication and division beyond rule-based procedures to solve problems involving fractions, decimals, percent, ratio, rate and proportion Level 6: Generalising, skills and strategies to support equivalence, recognition of number properties and patterns, and the use of algebraic text without which it is impossible to engage with the broader curricula expectations at this level.

What does this student believe about Decimals?

Common Misunderstandings about decimals, fractions and ratio. What are they? How can we diagnose them? What teaching strategies will help to remove the misunderstandings?

Using Indicators of Progress Teachers Maths Domain Continuum Number Choose a VELS level appropriate to your students and an Indicator of Progress related to Numeracy.

Coffee Break! Review of previous sessions work

Exploring Decimals Nearest number. Which of the following numbers is nearest to 4.5? Explain to the person sitting next to you how you decided which number is closest.

5 Cards Make the largest number you can Make the smallest number you can Make as many numbers as you can between 4.3 and 6. How many numbers are there?

Which misunderstandings do the activities aim to overcome? Human numbers 5 cards Nearest Number Number Line Numbers Between

What strategies were used? Use of ragged decimals Working with and explaining to partner (why is this important?) Could be turned into games (See Domain page) Others?

Returning to our definition of Numeracy: Numeracy is the effective use of mathematics to meet the general demands of life at school and home, in paid work, and for participation in community and civic life How do we prepare students to use maths in meeting these “general demands” of home, work and community life? What are good examples of practical, demanding problems?

What are the features of an Authentic task? is purposeful and engaging models how people solve real problems in work and/or communities puts knowledge to work potentially demonstrates what students know and can do supports multiple representations and solution strategies offers opportunities for meaningful learning and higher order cognitive thinking results in some product, presentation or outcome as a result of the deliberations of the group and/or individual.

Where can I find examples of Authentic Tasks? Teachers Assessment SNMY (twice) Authentic Tasks Explore one of the following: Paper Audit, A Useful Grid, Sports Day Pizza Day, Water Conservation, Interruptions.

Authentic Tasks Is this a resource I could use?

Reflection. What learning have I gained from today’s presentation? Share your thoughts with a partner.

Could I use this model in my teaching? The focus for each session presented as a question. Makes the learning explicit. A short “lesson”, then time to explore. Working with partner, discussing learning. Reflection-Metacognition and accountability

In conclusion: A better understanding of “Numeracy” Knowledge of a resource to diagnose and address common student misunderstandings Teaching resources to use in the near future and longer term A possible model to use for explicit teaching