Striving To Improve - Numeracy - Set of 4

The Striving to Improve Series targets students who, for whatever reason, are struggling to keep up with their peers. The activities in the books are designed to prevent students from regressing any further at school. The tasks are based on a modified curriculum so that students can work at their own pace and without constant supervision from the teacher. There are also four literacy books in this series. Each section of the book provides students with the opportunity to consolidate written and mental methods of calculation, with an emphasis on process and understanding.

Fractions The section entitled Understanding Fractions enables students to re-encounter ideas of equivalent fractions, simplifying fractions, improper fraction, mixed numerals and comparing fractions. The section entitled Calculating With Fractions walks students through the four core calculations

Fractions, Decimals and Percentages The section entitled Skills With Decimals enables students to re-encounter ideas in decimal place value, calculations with decimals, comparing decimal quantities and rounding decimal amounts. The section entitled Fractions, Decimals And Percentages walks students through conversions between fractions, decimals and percentages. Students explore mental and written methods for performing conversion calculations. Attention is also given to real world applications and uses of these different representations, with an emphasis on understanding and using percentages.

Angles, Shapes and MensurationThe section entitled Angles enables students to review types of angles and naming angles. There is the opportunity to practise drawing angles and using angles within a context. Students then have the opportunity to investigate angles in a triangle and to also classify the different types of triangles. The section entitled Shapes And Mensuration familiarises students with units of length, mass and capacity and provides activities to consolidate unit conversions using mental strategies. The activities then move on to exploring perimeter and area of rectangles and triangles and allow for a thorough consolidation of these foundational concepts. Students then engage with simple volume and capacity ideas.

Integers The section entitled Understanding Integers enables students to re-encounter ideas of place value, rounding, estimation, factors, multiples and the concept of a directed number.The section entitled Calculating With Integers walks students through the four core calculations. Students explore addition and subtraction with two and three digit sums and can apply what they have learned to some real life application problems. Similarly, students explore the various levels of multiplication and division before applying them to a variety of applications.

These activities are a useful way to scaffold a new unit of Mathematics and will help build confidence for lower ability students to attempt more challenging problems. The activities are designed to guide student learning with minimal input from the teacher and there is a strong emphasis on process and understanding.The activities can be used for individual students needing further consolidation in a mainstream classroom or as instructional worksheets for a whole class of lower ability students.