Title: Writing in Math Class
1Writing in Math Class
- Peg Brooks
- CGI Teacher Leader
- Sioux Falls, SD
2Marilyn Burns-Writing in Math Class
- Why writing in math class is important.
- Examples of writing assignments in math class
- Suggestions for how to add writing as a component
of math instruction
3I. Why Writing is important
- Students explain and give examples of their
understanding of concepts - Students make connections to real-life
applications of the math they are learning - Requires students to
- organize,
- clarify,
- reflect on,
- explore, and
- extend their ideas
4II. Four examples of writing assignments in math
class
- 1. Journal-chronological record of what is being
covered in math - 2. Aid to solving math problems by writing what
they were thinking as they arrived at a solution - 3. Write about specific math concepts before
formal lessons - 4. Creative Writing
5III. Suggestions for how to add writing as a
component of math instruction
- Teach how to write about what you think.
(metacognition) - Encourage students and give prompts that they can
choose from. (on wiki) - Have students write solution strategies to share
with the class. Check attitudes (Reflection)
61. Math Journals
- When writing in your math journal, use words,
pictures, numbers and manipulatives. - Through math journals, verbal knowledge,
mathematical knowledge, personal experience, and
visual ideas merge as you make mathematical ideas
your own. -
7Purpose of Journals
- Increases confidence
- Increases participation
- Encourages independence
- Decentralizes authority
- Replaces quizzes and tests as means of assessment
- Monitors progress
- Enhances communication between student and
teacher - Records growth
82. Metacognition
- When writing, thoughts become cleareryou
discover exactly what you are thinking. - Encourage your students to use drawings and
graphs to explain their thinking. - Although were used to just being concerned about
the results or the answers, if we pay more
attention to how we think, it would help us to
think more clearly, and improve the quality of
our results. - There are no wrong answers in writing about
thinking. - Use drawings or graphs to explain thinking
9Writing to Think
- Writing in mathematics helps students
think....allows students time to wonder and to
process. Written explanations in mathematics
are about what is being done and why it works.
The type of thinking involved in justifying a
strategy or explaining an answer is quite
different from that needed to merely solve an
equation. The process of writing about a
mathematics problem will itself often lead to a
solution. Joan Kenney
10When children have regular invitations to write
and talk about mathematics in open-ended ways,
they soon recognize they can discover new ideas
in the process
11Write about Mathematical ideas
- Explain in your own words what subtraction means.
(familiar first) - Explain what is most important to understand
about fractions - What do you know about angles?
- What does measurement mean to you?
123. Reflection
- What you did in class today.
- What did you learn?
- What are you unsure about, confused by, or
wondering about? - Describe what was easy and what was difficult for
you when you were a math student?
13Reflection starters
- Reflect on your participation in class today and
complete the following statements - I learned that I..
- I was surprised that I .
- I noticed that I
- I discovered that I
- I was pleased that I
144. Creative Writing
- Literature based example problems
-
- One day the Little Red Hen baked a cake for
her 8 chicks. She sliced the cake into 8 pieces.
Her chicks each got a piece. Draw what this
looked like.
15Creative Writing
- Examples of story problems based on literature
- Kids can write these!
- One of Jacks beanstalks was 17 feet tall.
Another was 8 feet tall. Which beanstalk was
taller. Tell how you know?
16Creative Writing
17Book Titles
- Counting on Frank-Clement
- Annos Mysterious Multiplying JarAnno
- Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School-Sachar
- G is for Googol-Schwartz
- One Grain of Rice-Demi
- The Grapes of Math-Tang
- Spaghetti and Meatballs for All-Burns
- A Remainder of One-Pinczes
- Marvelous Math Hopkins
- Alexander, Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday-Viorst
- How Much is a Million-Schwartz
- If You Made a Million-Schwartz
- The GreedyTriangle-Burns
18Assessment
- Provides teachers with alternative assessment
opportunities to note students abilities in
explaining and applying concepts - When reading through written explanations,
instructors can determine if further guidance or
additional learning opportunities are needed. - Teachers can monitor each students attitude
toward learning mathematics
19If a child cannot learn the way we teach maybe
we should teach the way they learn.
Using writing is one way to help students make
the connection between school and real life.
Exploration and extension activities allow
students to apply math skills in ways that are
meaningful and rooted in every day experiences
instead of relying on the teacher to provide
problems and solutions. Students take ownership
of their learning and are better able to find
ways to use it outside of the classroom.
(Brandenburg)
20Why not just talk it out?
- Writing shares many of the qualities of talking,
but it has some unique characteristics of its
own, such as creating a record of our thinking
that we can analyze and reflect upon. - (Math is Language Too
Whitin and Whitin) - While talking one does not usually have a chance
to reflect and analyze-Writing may give students
a safe place to think.
21Websites
- http//math.about.com/library/weekly/aa123001a.htm
(journaling) - http//www.literacyconnections.com/Tang.php
(poems and math) - http//www.mathwire.com/writing/writing1.html
(writing in mathematics)
22Bibliography
- Brandenburg, M.L. (2002).
- Advanced math? Write! Educational Leadership, 60
(3), 67-68. - Burns, M. (1995).
- Writing in math class? Absolutely! Instructor,
104 (7), 40-47.