When I first started teaching, I thought literacy and math were two separate entities. They have nothing to do with each other. But now that I have completed my fourth year of teaching, I am starting to see how hand in hand they can be. There are so many things I can be doing in my own classroom to help the ELA teachers.
One easy thing I can do is have a word wall displaying all of the new vocabulary words we've learned throughout the year. I also have my students have a glossary in their binders to keep definitions of these words. But incorporating literacy in my class is so much more than a word wall.
As we have started incorporating the Missouri Learning Standards, the students are being asked to provide more detailed explanations of their work. This past year I started having my students answer the question of how they would solve the problem and not necessarily have them work it out. For example, explain how you would solve the equation 3x - 7 + 4x = 14. I used questions like these as exit slips for my students. That way I could easily tell if they understood the process. For my lower reading students, I would have them explain it to me in words instead of having them write it out. I have found that by having students explain how to work a problem, their understanding of that topic increases. We also use the Kagan structure 'Sage n Scribe' to explain processes to their partner.
This past school year our building also incorporated using a method called RACE for writing answers. R-Restate the Question; A-Answer the Question; C-Cite the Evidence; E-Explain and Extend. It has definitely improved the writing of our students. We have posters of it in every classroom, including my math class. Mainly we just use the R and A. If it's a word problem, we can incorporate the C, but we have found that it's hard to get the E in the answer.
By incorporating literacy in my math class, I am not only teaching math but connections to other subjects as well as life. What other ways do you see literacy being incorporated in a math classroom?
Hi Andrea. I really like your idea of a word wall. It is great that you students have an opportunity to see their vocabulary words frequently. Also, I think it is great that you are using the RACE method in your math classroom. It is just reinforcing what they are doing across the board. Great ideas!
ReplyDeleteI also try to keep a word wall but the idea of them keeping a glossary is also great. I could have my kids do that in their math journal. I also like the idea of explaining how they would solve a problem on an exit slip. That would be good for the long processes, such as 2 by 2 multiplication and long division.
ReplyDeleteAndrea,
ReplyDeleteI like the ideas you have incorporated to get your students verbal/written explanations of processes! As far as the "E" in RACE, extending the process might work if you could find a way to ask them how certain processes or equations can be extended to the real world. I know in the upper grades, the literacy standards are asking students to apply their learning to real-world situations so they can understand how the classroom extends to the real world. So, if they had to think of ways that a certain type of question or equation would be used outside the classroom, it might make the learning a little more relevant for them. Great post!