MATH AND LITERACY
MAKING A CONNECTION
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
“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
WHY ARE WE
WRITING IN
MATH CLASS?
http://files.eric.ed.
gov/fulltext/ED544
239.pdf
• 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.
“Students write to keep
ongoing records about
what they’re doing and
learning.”
“Students write in order
to solve math problems.”
Benefit #1
Benefit #2
“Students write to
explain mathematical
ideas.”
Benefit #3
“Students write to
describe learning
processes.”
Benefit #4
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.
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.
http://www.readwritethink.org
• Classroom Resources
• Professional Development
• Parent & Afterschool Resources
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 use models 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”
• identify and 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.
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.
IDEAS FOR MATHEMATICS ACTIVITIES
Math Journals
Explain a formula.
Write about a time you were
confused in math and tell
about what you did.
Write everything you know about
__________. (Can do this at the
beginning of new material or as a
recap of what’s been taught.)
Present a graph from the
newspaper, magazine, online
resource and have students
write everything they can
understand from the data in
the graph.
Write/Draw as many examples
of a ratio (or something else)
that you can think of in 5 min.
Use all of the vocabulary words
from a unit and write a
paragraph/story using them
correctly.
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”.
WHY LITERATURE IN MATH?
• Generates interest in a math concept
• Motivates students to think and reason
mathematically
• Helps students make connections between math
concepts and their personal lives
• Accommodates different learning modalities
• Promotes critical thinking
• Engages learners in problem solving experiences
• Illustrates interdisciplinary connections to
mathematics
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
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.”
MATH SOLUTIONS PUBLICATIONS SERIES
WWW.MATHSOLUTIONS.COM
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.
• Students gather similar research
from their own classroom
• Use the computer to graph data
• Create a “class book” full of
meaningful statistics
MEAs are a collection of realistic problem-solving
activities aligned to multiple subject-area standards.
MEAS
Model
Eliciting
Activities
MODEL ELICITING ACTIVITIES
• MEAs are open-ended, interdisciplinary problemsolving 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.
INTEGRATED STEM LESSONS AS
MODEL ELICITING ACTIVITIES
stemlesson.org
mea.cpalms.org
Click on Resources
to access “MEAs”.
http://www.cpalms.org/Public/
 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.
Primary
Grades
MEA
LESSON
TITLES
• 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
mea.cpalms.org
MAFS.2.NBT.1.4
MAFS.2.NBT.2.5
Intermediate
Grades
MEA
LESSON
TITLES
• 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
mea.cpalms.org
MAFS.5.MD.1.1
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!
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?sectio
ndetailid=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