While English literacy is the core of our mission at Washtenaw Literacy, having a fluent understanding of math is just as vital for our learners’ success. Numbers and letters are often tied together in daily life and being able to recognize and comprehend how numbers function (or Numeracy) often comes up in the goals of our learners. However, mathematics can be very intimidating for learners and tutors alike. Trying to explain multiplication or coming up with story problems can feel like a major obstacle, especially if you are a new tutor starting out. Check out these resources, selected by Program Coordinator Neal Steichen, to help develop your next session plan in mathematics.
The first resource we are highlighting this month is a Math Vocabulary Infographic. As with any subject, mathematics relies on its own sets of definitions and terms to communicate what is happening in a particular problem or statement. Even if you don’t consider yourself a math whiz, you probably have found yourself using words that convey the same result. For instance, “adding,” “combining,” “increasing,” and “finding the sum of” are all saying the same thing: Addition! You may find that your learner uses a slightly different set of vocabulary than you do for math problems. Use this infographic as a starting point to help your learner understand all of these mathematical synonyms so you stay on the same page.
Click here for the Math Vocabulary Infographic
The second resource is the Kitchen Math Workbook. Many of our learners are focused on developing skills that they’ll need in everyday life, and one of the places that math pops up constantly is the kitchen. Whether it is planning a budget for a large meal or week, counting calories to stay on track towards a goal, or tripling a recipe for family cookout, having strong math skills is needed if you want to keep cooking as easy as pie. This workbook is filled with easy-to-use, practical examples to help learners practice the most common types of problems they’ll encounter when working with food.
Click here for the Kitchen Math Workbook
The final resource for this month is called Common Core Sheets. This website is filled with worksheets that cover just about every type of math problem covered in a traditional Kindergarten to 8th grade education. Whether you are sorting by grade level or by specific types of problems, you’ll find multiple sheets of example problems along with answer sheets. What we particularly like about these answer sheets is that they will show the work being done with multiple-step equations, so learners can follow along and see exactly where they may have made a mistake. Along with worksheets, you can create your own tests and flashcards to practice and assess a learner’s progress.
Click here for the Common Core Sheets