math and literacy

1. math and literacy Making a Connection

2. What does it mean to be mathematically literate? • Mathematical literacy is being able to do, understand, and apply mathematics, not only in the classroom, but in everyday lives. • Students must develop skills to think, read, communicate and perform in many academic contexts. Therefore, educators must consider how students learn to read, write, think, speak and listen in their discipline. • Researchers agree that, like reading, improving students’ writing skills improves their capacity to learn (National Institute for Literacy, 2007). Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction

4. “Writing in mathematics gives me a window into my students’ thoughts that I don’t normally get when they just compute problems. It shows me their roadblocks, and it also gives me, as a teacher, a road map.” -Maggie Johnston 9th grade mathematics teacher, Denver, Colorado “Using Writing in Mathematics to Deepen Student Learning” by Vicki Urquhart

5. David Pugalee (2005), who researches the relationship between language and mathematics learning, asserts that writing supports reasoning and problem solving and helps students internalize the characteristics of effective communication. He suggests that teachers read student writing for evidence of logical conclusions, justification of answers and processes, and the use of facts to explain their thinking. Why are we writing in math class? http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED544239.pdf

6. “Students write to keep ongoing records about what they’re doing and learning.” “Students write in order to solve math problems.” “Students write to explain mathematical ideas.” “Students write to describe learning processes.”

7. Writing to explain and describe Content prompts deal with mathematical concepts and relationships. Examples : • Define parallel in your own words. • How would you describe a number line? • Write a paragraph about the data displayed in the graph. • What properties do triangles have? • Tell everything you remember about the key points in today’s lesson. Reflective writing prompts provide students a vehicle for describing their learning processes. Ideas: • What about providing students writing prompts at the beginning of a unit that gives them the opportunity to “voice” what they think/know already about a problem that has been posted? • Students can describe how they feel about the problem and why.

10. Integrating writing into the mathematics classroom • Writing can provide valuable insight for teachers into their students’ mastery of math concepts. • Writing often reveals gaps in learning and misconceptions which can help inform teachers for instructional planning and intervention strategies. • Communicating about mathematics through writing helps strengthen student learning which can build conceptual understanding. • Students are able to clarify their thinking about a math topic through writing. • Integrating writing into the curriculum can be easy with a little planning.

11. http://www.readwritethink.org • Classroom Resources • Professional Development • Parent & Afterschool Resources

12. http://www.readwritethink.org • Grade Levels: K-2 • “Going on a Shape Hunt: Integrating Math and Literacy” • Students are introduced to the idea of shapes through a read-aloud session with an appropriate book. They then usemodels to learn the names of shapes, work together and individually to locate shapes in their real-world environment, practice spelling out the names of shapes they locate, and reflect in writing on the process. This lesson provides opportunities to engage students using many different learning modalities. Grade Levels: 1-2 “Draw a Math Story: From the Concrete to the Symbolic” • identifyand use key mathematical terms in discussion and in writing. • draw a series of pictures telling a sequential story which depicts objects being added or taken away. • tell and write a sequential story which corresponds to their drawings. • state or write equations that correspond to their stories.

13. http://www.readwritethink.org Grades Levels 3-5 “Talking, Writing, and Reasoning: Making Thinking Visible with Math Journals” • Getting Started with Math Journals • Sharing a good math-related children’s book or exploring puzzles – such as the Magic Triangle are good ways to begin working with Math Journals. • At the beginning stages of working with Math Journals, it helps students if they are presented with an open-ended prompt instead of having to develop an idea on their own. This kind of prompt is best for revealing students’ thinking, too. • Teachers should collect and view journal entries and make written comments to encourage the written dialogue between the student. Teachers can ask specific questions.

14. Ideas for mathematics activities

15. More…Ideas for mathematics activities • Poetry – Writing and sharing poems is a popular way for many secondary students to share ideas about math concepts, ideas, and experiences. (Example: Haiku – 3 lines – 5 syllable, 7 syllable, 5 syllable format is simple and appropriate for math.) • Triangular Prism • Five faces, all flat • Your straight edges count to nine • Triangles — a must! • Advice Columns – Students write fictitious advice columns as you might find in a news column, but specific to mathematics. Use math re-lated names, like “Dear Algy (algebra or algorithm) and “Dear Dr. Pi”.

18. Why Literature in MATH? • Generates interest in a math concept • Motivatesstudents to think and reason mathematically • Helps students make connectionsbetween math concepts and their personal lives • Accommodatesdifferent learning modalities • Promotes critical thinking • Engageslearners in problem solvingexperiences • Illustratesinterdisciplinary connections to mathematics

19. Current Theory • Literature provides a framework to help students learn math in a way that is non - threatening and familiar. Picture Books Math Reduced Anxiety

20. Marilyn Burns suggests… “Students for whom math is their first love learn to look at books in a new way; students who love to read – but for whom math is not “their thing” – are helped to experience the wonder of mathematics in the same way they already enjoy the wonder of books.”

21. Math Solutions Publications series www.mathsolutions.com

22. Guidelines for Choosing Literature • Select books that… • Use the mathematics correctly, are set in reasonable contexts, and are expressed in an easily understandable manner. • Are visually pleasing as well as functional; they unleash the imagination and curiosity of the reader through stories and rich illustrations. • Appeal to multiple grade levels and provoke thinking and learning for a wide range of ages.

26. Students gather similar research from their own classroom • Use the computer to graph data • Create a “class book” full of meaningful statistics

27. MEAs are a collection of realistic problem-solving activities aligned to multiple subject-area standards. meas Model Eliciting Activities

28. Model Eliciting Activities • MEAs are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in these realistic activities. • MEAs resemble engineering problems because students work in teams to apply their knowledge of science and mathematics to solve an open-ended problem, while considering constraints and tradeoffs and clearly documenting their thought process. • MEA components on CPALMS include lesson plans with learning objectives, wide range of lesson resources, assessments and differentiation pieces.

29. Integrated STEM Lessons as Model Eliciting Activities stemlesson.org mea.cpalms.org

30. Click on Resources to access “MEAs”. http://www.cpalms.org/Public/

31. MEAs follow a problem-based, student centered approach to learning, where students are encouraged to grapple with the problem while the teacher acts as a facilitator. • MEAs have been used successfully as teaching tools in a range of subject areas and grade levels. • Students gain a deeper understanding of the content as specified in the aligned standards and increase their ability to effectively apply their knowledge of the content to solve an open-ended problem. • Besides gaining content knowledge, MEAs foster the development of 21st century skills like communication, teamwork, technical analysis, and problem solving. Individual MEAs typically align to standards in multiple subject areas.

32. Primary Grades • Kg – We Love Pets!MAFS.K.CC.2.4 • 1st Grade – Flower Power Flower Company MAFS.1.OA.1.1 MAFS.1.OA.3.5 MAFS.1.NBT.1.1 MAFS.1.MD.3.4 • 2nd Grade – Carnival MAFS.2.NBT.1.4 MAFS.2.NBT.2.5 MEA LESSON TITLES mea.cpalms.org

33. Intermediate Grades • 3rd Grade - Spin Beyblades MAFS.3.OA.2.6 MAFS.3.OA.3.7 • 4th Grade -Donuts and Decimals MAFS.4.NF.3.6 • 5th Grade -X-treme Roller Coasters MAFS.5.NBT.1.2 MAFS.5.NBT.1.3 MAFS.5.MD.1.1 MEA LESSON TITLES mea.cpalms.org

34. In Summary Introducing a math concept or practicing a math skill by using fun, interactive Children’s Picture books can help reduce math anxiety and make the “math experience” more enjoyable for your students!

35. Resources http://mathsolutions.com/qa-effective-math-instruction-using-childrens-literature/ http://www.carolhurst.com/subjects/math/math.html http://www.mathcats.com/grownupcats/ideabankmathandliterature.html http://www.davidson.k12.nc.us/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=47899 http://www.nctm.org/resources/content.aspx?id=2880 http://www.livingmath.net/ReaderLists/tabid/268/language/en-US/Default.aspx http://www.chatham.edu/pti/curriculum/units/2009/Schmitt.pdf http://ohiorc.org/for/math/bookshelf/ http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED544239.pdf http://www.readwritethink.org