Explain The Aims And Importance Of Learning Provision For Numeracy Development

In order to improve my instructional practices, I analyzed instructional data from district math diagnostic and proficiency assessments. The most recent assessment assessed student’s abilities to count, add and subtract, and their understanding of place value. My students scored below not only the other first grade students at the school, but also all first grade students in the district. 81.6% of my students could count, read, and write numbers to 120. This was an improvement from their diagnostic assessment. However, only 66.7% could relate counting to addition and subtraction, and only 45% demonstrated understanding of place value in two digit numbers.

Practitioners can support children by setting up a range of activities that include all stages of maths development and meets individual needs. In my placement, they have jigsaw hop-scotch in the 3-5-year-old room. The children need to put the pieces in the correct place to be able to complete the hop-scotch. This allows the children to work individually or together to put the number in the correct order. This allows the children to recognise numbers as well as develop the child’s physical development. Then the practitioner can observe and assess if the child can count any higher and the child’s development which will allow the practitioner to plan using the EYFS Development Matters (Early Education, 2012) for support to allow the child’s development to improve but still meeting their individual needs.

Children use numbers with daily activities eg. Songs. They also develop a range of flexible methods for working mentally with numbers. For example, when playing number games and flash cards.

The objective of EDC141: The Numerate Educator was for students to obtain the chance to develop their mathematical skills, build mathematical competency, and positively chance their disposition (as a pre-service teacher) towards the importance and the functionality of maths. The key to success is to learn from one’s mistakes and work (by practicing mathematical questions) to further improve one’s results. This I managed to do by increasing my Mathspace results from 64% to 68% (as shown in Appendices 1A). The Australian Curriculum focuses on developing student’s capabilities in six areas: number, Algebra, Geometry, measurement, statistics and probability. Using evidence from the Mathspace test results, the NAPLAN results and activities of ‘What

Numeracy development is important for all children as maths is an important part of everyday life. The way in which maths is taught has changed greatly over the years. When I was at school we were taught one method to reach one answer. Now, particularly in early primary phase, children are taught different methods to reach an answer, which includes different methods of working out and which also develops their investigation skills. For example, by the time children reach year six, the different methods they would have been taught for addition would be number lines,

Van de Walle, J, Karp, K. S. & Bay-Williams, J. M. (2015). Elementary and Middle School Mathematics Teaching Developmentally. (9th ed.). England: Pearson Education Limited.

- To encourage the effective use of numeracy and maths as a tool in a wide range of activities within and out of school

E.A.L. stands for English, as an Additional Language. It is an additional in school support provided for children whose first language is not English. If children are not supported to develop English, they are less likely to be able to

The National curriculum states that in Mathematics teachers should use every relevant subject to develop pupils’ mathematical fluency. Confidence in numeracy and other mathematical skills is

For pupils to use a calculator effectively requires a sound knowledge of number. As children learn how to enter simple one step calculations that involve whole numbers, they can explore

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a series of tests administered annually to all Australian students. NAPLAN is divided into separate components for Numeracy and Literacy, including Reading, Writing, Spelling and Grammar. An article published in the Sydney Morning Herald in 2013 reported that students from a language background other than English (LBOTE) were performing better than students from English-speaking backgrounds (non-LBOTE) in both literacy and numeracy. LBOTE category broadly encompasses all students who speak a language other than English at home, or whose parents speak a language other than English at home. For the purpose of this report, only the Literacy component will

I chose to incorporate reading as a math warm-up because it is an effective way to explore mathematical concepts, which are both engaging and informative for the students. Integrating elements of literature into the lesson supports problem solving and allows students to be fully immersed in the story, solving themselves the mathematical issues that the characters fall into. Ministry of Education, 2016, endorses this idea stating that applying visual elements of picture books aid in illustrating mathematical concepts, which are difficult to teach with other resources, or challenging for students to comprehend. This particular book introduces properties of place value, discussing the idea that 10 tens is equal to 1 one hundred, which all groups need assisting with.

The school worked on a year and a half form entry basis and so classes were generally small. During numeracy children were divided into three ability groups and each group was taught separately. My partner and I (Miss M) worked with the lower ability group. Ofsted (2009) noted that the ‘arrangements for teaching numeracy in smaller groups have had a dramatic effect on pupils' progress, improving mathematics from a relative weakness to one of the school's strengths.’ However, doing so may mean that children know that very little is expected from them. According to Cockburn (1999, p15) ‘if a child is labelled as not being able or lacking in confidence, it may not be very long before that child ceases to perform to the best of their abilities.’

Multiplicative thinking, fractions and decimals are important aspects of mathematics required for a deep conceptual understanding. The following portfolio will discuss the key ideas of each and the strategies to enable positive teaching. It will highlight certain difficulties and misconceptions that children face and discuss resources and activities to help alleviate these. It will also acknowledge the connections between the areas of mathematics and discuss the need for succinct teaching instead of an isolated approach.

Mathematics, like every creation of man, have evolved without really knowing how far you can get with them: the scope of the computer, physics, chemistry, algebra, all are evidence of this. Every aspect of our culture is based in some way or another in Mathematics: language, music, dance, art, sculpture, architecture, biology, daily life. All these areas of measurements and calculations are accurate. Even in nature, everything follows a precise pattern and a precise order: a flower, a shell, a butterfly, day and night, the seasons. All this makes mathematics essential for human life and they can not be limited only to a matter within the school curriculum; here lies the importance of teaching math in a pleasure, enjoyable and understandable way. Mathematics is an aid to the development of the child and should be seen as an aid to life and not as an obstacle in their lifes.