Journal # 1 - Literacy Strategies for Improving Mathematics Instruction - 2 views
started by anonymous on 30 Jan 12
started by anonymous on 30 Jan 12
started by anonymous on 30 Jan 12
started by anonymous on 30 Jan 12
As a math teacher, I wanted to find some information on reading in my content area. I found this article, its rather lengthy but good, on why students have a hard time conceptually understanding math story problems and some creative ways to help students learn overcome this fear. The text said, "Research has shown that mathematics texts contain more concepts per sentence and paragraph than any other type of text. They are written in a very compact style; each sentence contains a lot of information, with little redundancy. The text can contain words as well as numeric and non-numeric symbols to decode." If a student is unable to read for content and just skim the text, it will be hard for them to be successful. Often I hear students say to me, "When am I ever going to use this in my life?!" I tell the students that higher level math is used a lot if you are in business, engineering, or are a math major; any other career doesn't really use math. However, math is all about problem solving and this is skill that is used in every career. You might never find the vertex of a parabola in your future careers. A story problem might ask you to find the highest point of a football when it is punted. The equation presented would be a parabola opening downward; you would need to figure out what is the highest point of a parabola… The vertex! You just problem solved and can now use the formula to find your answer. Everyone needs to be able to problem solve and be creative and that is what mathematics is excellent for. This is why you will benefit greatly from four years of high school math. A few techniques the book offered were pretty interesting and I would like to try them. One teacher thought the textbook was to hard for students to read so she read the text allowed to them. She would stop and ask the students to explain to her what she read in their own words. They would discuss the concepts as a class and come up with working definitions in their own words. Another teacher read a story problem allowed and spoke what he was thinking in his mind. This allowed students to hear what he was thinking and how he was trying to figure out the problem. Students were able to hear her thoughts and strategies and could use these in the future. The text encourages students to try to make graphs or graphic organizers while they read so they can see the material in a new format; this might help students grasp the concept they are reading. I really enjoyed this article and pick up several new strategies that I plan on incorporating in my classroom. I like the last sentence in this article and wanted to share it with everyone. "Mathematics teachers should recognize that part of their job in helping their students become autonomous, self-directed learners is first to help them become strategic, facile readers of mathematics text."