Teaching of Numeracy in the BEP Curriculum

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Teaching of Numeracy in the BEP Curriculum
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BEP Throughlines

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

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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)

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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?

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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

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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

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• 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.

www.education.vic.gov.au
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What does this student believe about Decimals?

• 0.1
• 0.3
• 0.8
• 0.9
• 0.10
• 0.11
• 0.15
• 0.50

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Common Misunderstandings about decimals,
fractions and ratio.

• What are they?
• How can we diagnose them?
• What teaching strategies will help to remove the
  misunderstandings?

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Using Indicators of Progress

• www.education.vic.gov.au
• Teachers
• Maths Domain
• Continuum
• Number
• Choose a VELS level appropriate to your students
  and an Indicator of Progress related to Numeracy.

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Coffee Break!

• Review of previous sessions work

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Exploring Decimals

• Nearest number.
• Which of the following numbers is nearest to
  4.5?
• 4.4 4.56 4.6
• Explain to the person sitting next to you how you
  decided which number is closest.

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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?

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Which misunderstandings do the activities aim to
overcome?

• Human numbers
• 5 cards
• Nearest Number
• Number Line
• Numbers Between

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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?

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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?

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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.

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Where can I find examples of Authentic Tasks?

• www.education.vic.gov.au
• Teachers
• Assessment
• SNMY (twice)
• Authentic Tasks
• Explore one of the following
• Paper Audit, A Useful Grid, Sports Day
• Pizza Day, Water Conservation, Interruptions.

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Authentic Tasks

• Is this a resource I could use?

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Reflection. What learning have I gained from
todays presentation?

• Share your thoughts with a partner.

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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

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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