10 Content Area Literacy Strategies for Art Mathmateics Musc and Physical Education

There ever seems to be a new debate about the best way to teach math or which curriculum is the all-time. I also hear oft from homeschool moms who love and feel confident teaching reading, yet experience uncertain and ill-equipped to teach math. Today I am not trying to put any debates to rest or say that I accept the terminal respond to math educational activity questions, I simply want to share some ideas to help you lot wherever y'all are, and hopefully show that teaching math doesn't have to be difficult or scary. You may also be surprised to hear information technology isn't as far away from educational activity reading equally it seems. Considering you lot can actually use helpful and recognized literacy strategies to teach math!

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I've recently been reading a book by Laney Sammons called, Building Mathematical Comprehension. It is an first-class resource and if you are interested in learning more and seeing more than examples and in depth analysis of these strategies, I highly recommend information technology.

As I've read through and considered various literacy strategies, it has struck me that applying these strategies to math seems so obvious, and yet, it'south not something I take heard or thought of earlier.

For instance, she makes the signal that the goal of reading instruction is to encompass and use. The same is true of math! The goal of teaching and learning math is non to be able to compute or work through algorithms or memorize facts. Information technology is to understand. To encompass the pregnant of all the numbers and their connections to each other and then utilise that to existent life.

So if y'all're familiar with these strategies, I hope this will give you new insight into how yous can apply them to math educational activity, and if you're not familiar with these strategies, I hope this will be packed total of useful information for you!

5 Ideas for Using Literacy Strategies to Teach Math:

1. Teach Math Vocabulary

In reading, vocabulary (and figuring out unknown words) is an essential component of comprehension. In math, the task of knowing and determining unknown vocabulary is even more challenging because at that place are words that are specific to math and not used in everyday conversation.

Math is a foreign linguistic communication and information technology is important that we don't take for granted the linguistic communication used to talk about and describe math issues and situations. The skilful matter is, at that place are lots of different ways you can teach and help kids understand math specific vocabulary.

Here are just a few ideas:

• Have a "give-and-take wall" in your habitation or classroom to expose kids to math specific words and start discussions
• Encourage students to explain their thinking when they solve a problem using math words. If they explain in a fashion that doesn't incorporate the correct vocabulary, rephrase it for them using appropriate terms
• Use "discussion sorts" to let students to make connections between various words and mathematical operations (for example, sort words like "add, altogether, in total, plus, etc." under the addition symbol
• Accept math talks and encourage (and model yourself) the use of math specific vocabulary
• Incorporate writing into your lessons to permit students to write almost mathematical experiences, or explain a solution in their own words using math vocabulary
• Utilize graphic organizers such equally a Frayer diagram or Venn diagram to compare words, find examples, etc.
• Read math stories (this is one of my favorites!)

Related: The Importance of Math Vocabulary

two. Use Schema (a.thousand.a prior cognition)

Every kid has a schema, or set of knowledge, that is unique to them. Each kid's schema volition be varied in its breadth and depth. Some may overlap, some may accept a lot of prior knowledge (some may accept a much larger vocabulary, for instance) while others may have nigh no prior cognition.

Information technology's important, however, in reading and math, to try and start with what they know and build on that knowledge. In fact, co-ordinate to Marzano, research suggests that "what students already know nearly the content is one of the strongest indicators of how well they volition larn new information relative to the content." (This too means you lot may need to spend fourth dimension determining what they know before you commencement).

By starting with something familiar, students tin can then brand a connectedness from the new concept to what they already know, helping to brand sense of the new ideas, equally well as helping with retention.

This is the reason the commencement few lessons in my introduction to multiplication parcel focus on reinforcing and understanding repeated addition. This allows kids to accept something familiar (addition) and think almost it in a new way (repeated addition) and so grade a connection from repeated addition to multiplication.

And then when you are planning math lessons, it is helpful for students if you offset with the familiar and work towards edifice a bridge to new content.

But it is as well important to help students see how they tin can practice this on their ain to assistance them solve bug. When they expect at a math trouble, have them first ask themselves, "What do I know?" and then write that down. Look for things that are familiar (such as known vocabulary words) and see if that provides any insight into how to solve the trouble.

A popular method in reading instruction is to use a KWL nautical chart (What do I KNOW, what do I Desire to know, and then what did I LEARN). This could easily exist used when learning a new math concept every bit well, helping kids brand those important connections!

Related: Teaching Readers to Use Their Schema

3. Make Connections

This leads me to the next literacy strategy: making connections. Helping kids apply their prior cognition gives them something to connect a new concept to.

But students can make connections in other ways besides, and this is a very useful strategy to help them larn, employ and recollect new math concepts.

Types of math connections:

• Math to math
• Math to self
• Math to earth

All of math is interconnected, and it'due south of import to assist kids see the connections between 1 math concept and some other. We also so, have to find ways to make connections between the math they're learning and their life, and help them see math in the world effectually them.

One way you lot tin can help kids form connections is to plan lessons in which connections are abundant. Be intentional in the fashion you present new topics. Teach it in a fashion that uses all sorts of other math to see and learn the new math idea.

Sometimes it is helpful to point out these connections to students, and other times, encourage them to make the connections on their own. Eventually, you want seeing and making connections to be a habit, natural and automatic for kids.

Ideas for helping kids brand mathematical connections:

• Have a daily "how did you employ math yesterday?" word
• Keep math journals documenting math situations or connections
• If you're a classroom teacher, encourage parents to accept "math talks" or go on "math walks" at abode
• Read the book Math Curse and spend fourth dimension discussing information technology and other means we run into and use math (get FREE resources to use with this book here)

Related: Making connections to help with reading comprehension

4. Make predictions

Making predictions and inferences is an important reading comprehension strategy, and adapting that to math teaching is vital. As Laney Sammons states,

"Students demand to know that making predictions that are so proved or disproved is a process mathematicians have used throughout history."

Having an thought about how to solve a trouble and then seeing that that is either a valid method or not is what nosotros practice equally mathematicians. It's the crux of the trouble solving process. Play around with ideas and numbers and see what happens.

Related: 8 reasons making mistakes in math is a good affair

The trouble is, this is not normally how math is taught. Often, students are told, "Here is the process. Practice each trouble exactly like this." Students so memorize a procedure without understanding the concept or making whatsoever connections to prior knowledge or their world.

Instead, encourage exploration. Encourage mistakes, and then have students analyze why a method did or did not work. Then have them endeavor over again.

Help them look for patterns and see if they can generalize their observations.

Just as students can make predictions about how to solve bug, they should also be in the addiction of predicting the solution. This is called estimating.

Unfortunately, this is a rarely taught skill, and is usually but seen in the form of, "How many balls exercise you call back are in this jar?"

Helping kids arrive the addiction of estimating the solution is important though, because it will assist them to self check and make sure that the respond makes sense in the context of the problem. They tin can use what is given in the trouble as well as their prior knowledge to make predictions most the solution.

For instance, in an improver problem, students should know that the final solution must exist larger than the numbers they are adding.

In more challenging bug, they should recall near whether the solution should exist positive or negative, large or small, a whole number or a fraction, exactly i solution or more than ane solution, etc.

I think the best way to encourage this kind of estimating is to constantly model information technology for kids. Talk out loud every bit you solve a trouble and explain why yous call up the reply will be large and positive. And then talk through your thinking as yous do the math.

Related: Making predictions as y'all read and Using inferences to assist with comprehension

5. Teach kids to visualize

Just like reading a story creates a visual image in our minds, math problems should likewise. When using visualizing to aid with reading comprehension, information technology's a skillful idea to underline or circle visual words (adjectives).

Kids can do this with math word problems as well. Circle words that paint a movie and provide important information, and then employ those words to describe a picture.

Visualizing and cartoon a picture is a helpful strategy because it provides kids with a mental prototype which will help them remember what they've learned.

It tin can also help them break down a problem into easier to empathise parts to make sense of it. If a problem seems overwhelming at first glance, spending time circumvoluted visual words and then drawing a pic of the trouble can help make information technology less overwhelming.

Related: Problem solving past drawing a moving picture

This is by no means an exhaustive list of literacy strategies, or ideas for how you can utilize reading comprehension strategies to math instruction. It is simply meant to requite y'all a starting indicate and hopefully some good ideas for how you can encourage your kids to be thinkers and problem solvers who have a deep understanding of math and how it relates to the world around them.

And if y'all're looking for more strategies to help kids brand sense of math, grab a Free re-create of my ebook, Strategies for Problem Solving: Equip Kids to Solve Math Problems with Conviction!

Click Hither to learn more and request your copy!

References in this post:

• Edifice Mathematical Comprehension: Using Literacy Strategies to Make Significant, past Laney Sammons
• Building Background Knowledge for Bookish Achievement: Enquiry on What Works in Schools, by R.J. Marzano

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