How to Embed Numeracy and Literacy in Lessons
Numbers and language are used in everyday life for common tasks. When educators embed numeracy and literacy in lessons, they prepare learners for life's daily demands. Integrating these skills into daily curriculum requires drawing on practical tasks that cause students to interact with one another.
- Identify tasks that involve both language and numbers. Solving a mathematical word problem as a group is one example. Asking students to measure ingredients and bake a cake together is another idea. Measuring the perimeter of a bookcase to determine if it will fit into a specific space is another option.
- Break the class up into small groups. Assign the activity and allow students to interact in small groups. They can take turns reading a word problem and expressing their ideas about the right answer. They might measure items together or ask each other for explanations of difficult concepts.
- Provide definitions of mathematical language. Words like "perimeter," "area," and "angle" can be defined in advance so that language does not become an obstacle in the learning process.
- Ask students to find practical applications. For example, measuring a bookcase is a task they might help parents do at home. Pointing out the practical reasons for learning a numeracy skill helps increase the interest of learners, particularly for the less mathematically inclined.
- Regroup with small group presentations. Each small group can explain to the larger group how the problem was solved. The explanation should include the use of language, mathematical terminology and numbers. For quieter students who are less likely to speak in a large group, provide opportunities to share their answers with you one-on-one.