Tag Archives: real-world math

Using the Change Agent in Math Class

ABE, Classes, HSE, Math, Pre-HSE, Reading, Science, Social Studies,
The Change Agent (It's Not Just for ELA!)
· Appropriate for: Use in class · Available: Lessons, Texts/Readings, Hands On Activities · Readiness: Resources can be used as they are · Engagement: 3 = very engaging

The Change Agent is an adult education magazine for social justice, written by and for adult education students and adult education teachers. Each issue is centered around a theme – recent themes have included Mental Health, the Pandemic, Indigenous Peoples, Our Immigration Stories, and We Take Action.

Many ELA classes in adult education use the Change Agent to study reading, writing, social studies and science. But the Change Agent is also a fantastic resource for math class!

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Examine Math Mistakes from Our Everyday Lives

ABE, ESOL, HSE, Math, Pre-HSE, , ,
Sara VanDerWerf's Real-Life Math Mistakes
· Appropriate for: Use in class · Available: Problems · Readiness: Resources can be used as they are · Engagement: 3 = very engaging

Sara Van Der Werf is a teacher in Minnesota, who has been teaching middle school and high school students for the past 24 years. She writes about teaching on her highly-recommended blog. For the past three years, Sara has collected photographs of math mistakes taken from everyday life, both from the world around her and from the internet. The mistakes come from stores, signs, newspapers, TV, advertisements, etc.). Continue reading Examine Math Mistakes from Our Everyday Lives →

Number Sense: Helping Adult Numeracy Students Close the Gap

ABE, ESOL, HSE, Math, Pre-HSE, , , , , , , ,
Estimation 180
· Appropriate for: Use in class, For student independent work · Available: Lessons, Problems, Videos · Readiness: Resources can be used as they are · Engagement: 3 = very engaging

“About 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. lacks the math competence expected of a middle-schooler, meaning they have trouble with those ordinary tasks [calculating a tip, doing fractions to double a recipe, know how much change to expect from a cashier] and aren’t qualified for many of today’s jobs.” 

I came across this quote in an article called “Early Number Sense Plays a Role in Later Math Skills“. The author attempts to trace this statistic back to a root cause and comes up with a University of Missouri study done with 7th graders who were given a test to assess a variety of math skills needed to function in the world as an adult. They found that the students who were behind on the seventh-grade test were the same students who had the least number sense or fluency in mathematics in the first grade.

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Inspiring Student Curiosity (or What’s “Real” about Real-world Math?)

ESOL, HSE, Math, Pre-HSE, , , , ,
Dan Meyer's Three-Act Math Tasks
· Appropriate for: Use in class · Available: Problems, Videos · Readiness: Some resources are ready for the adult ed classroom and some would need to be adapted · Engagement: 3 = very engaging

“So I’m there on the beach with my friend Ben when we notice a taco cart up the road. Ben wants to walk straight over, but I’m thinking we walk a lot slower in the sand than we do on the street. So I say we walk straight to the street and then down the street to the cart. So we went our separate ways…” Thus begins the first Three-Act math task I ever experienced, courtesy of Dan Meyer.

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Learning Mathematical and Pedagogical Content (Algebra)

HSE, Math, Pre-HSE, ,
LearnZillion
· Appropriate for: Building teacher background knowledge, Use in class · Available: Lessons, Videos · Readiness: Resources need to be/can be adapted for adult education classroom · Engagement: 3 = very engaging

LearnZillion is a great resource to use for teachers who wish to refresh their knowledge of mathematical content as well as instructors who wish to deepen their understanding of what the content standards of the CCSS for Mathematics mean. Continue reading Learning Mathematical and Pedagogical Content (Algebra) →