Number sense Workshop Page 1)

Guidelines for Teaching Numeracy

1. Encourage looking for patterns rather than finding the right answer.
2. Stress the possibility that there may be many ways to solve the same problem.
3. Encourage peer-group collaboration. The best way to clarify one's own understanding of a concept is to explain it to someone else.
4. Encourage learners to write journals about the math skills they are learning and their feelings about learning math. (Using the language of mathematics reinforces both the mathematical concepts and proficiency in English.)
5. Although numeracy is an everyday coping skill, mathematical concepts can be quite abstract. (The more concrete and visual the explanation, the more easily understood the abstract concept.)
6. Each numeracy lesson should provide a balance between skill-building and functional needs. A lesson may begin with a problem (e.g. a mistake on a paycheck) that provides a context for learning new skills (such as subtracting decimals), or the lesson may start with a skill (e.g., adding decimals) followed by practical applications (such as adding sales tax to a fast food bill).
7. Include math in literacy instruction from the beginning. Even learners who have almost no proficiency in English need to learn numbers for such basic activities as shopping and riding the bus.

Ciancone, Jay, Kallenbach, Leonelli, Schwendeman, Dondertman ESL/ABE/GED Teachers from Massachusetts