Putting Literacy into Math

Hello once again.

Today, I would like to share some thoughts on literacy in math in general.  Although it sounds complicated and hard to integrate literacy into a math class, it really isn't.  I mean, I came up with a whole literacy rich unit in less than three weeks.  Granted, it could be beefed up and polished a bit, but the bones are there.  My point is that if I can do that in such a short amount of time, I think any math teacher can. 

But that is not the problem in my eyes.  The problem I can see and understand is about time.  We all know that time is of the essence for every teacher.  And so teachers have to pick and choose wisely their lessons and assignments.  Since literacy is such an important concept, and educators must do what they can to improve every students literacy skill set and level, the dilemma becomes one of time and choice of what to teach for a content specific teacher.

Luckily, there are small less time consuming literacy strategies that can easily be incorporated into the math classroom.  For instance, journals every Wednesday or Thursday could help deepen the students understanding of the content while also functioning as a formative assessment for the teacher.  And the teacher would be able to address the issues the students are having on Friday as a recap of what they learned that week.  This small task only took five minutes or less, and gave huge benefits in return.

Another thing that could be done in the very first week or day of class is a 'get to know your textbook exercise.'  This literacy strategy forces students to look at their math textbook and analyze the structure and benefits of it.  It also gives the students a chance to ask questions about anything they might find confusing.  With those questions answered, and an orientation of the textbook, students would benefit from that for the rest of the year.

Teaching literacy in math can be easily done. It doesn't have to be a choice of what to teach, because both math and literacy can be taught at the same time.  And many teachers may already be doing it with out making a huge effort.

Visual Literacy and Math

Hi everybody!

I just wanted touch on visual literacy and how I think it relates to math.  According to the ACRL, Visual literacy is a skill set that allows a students to effectively synthesize and create visual media.  Further, the visually literate student is a critical thinker and a competent contributor of knowledge and culture.  For a deeper more precise definition, click here. 

As math teachers, we know that math can be very visual.  And that teaching students to visualize the problems, concepts, and terms can be very hard.  So, I say, turn to literacy.  Show students through visual literacy strategies how to understand math...like making proofs in geometry with geometers sketchpad.  Don't be afraid to get 'techie' about it.

In finance, there are so many terms and concepts to understand in order to comprehend everyday real life institutions like the stock market.  Here is a web site that I found to help visualize these terms and concepts.

Enjoy!

Text Sets in Math

After putting together a finance related text set, I can definitely see ways in which to use it in a math classroom.  I think that students definitely need to understand certain aspects of finance by the time they graduate from high school.  The text set I put together will give many tools for the students to use after they graduate.

Here is a sample of some websites:

This site is very broad in topics and can be used by parents and teacher, offering activities, worksheets, workbooks and more.  It can also be used by students to search for colleges and help plan for the future.
education.com

This site offers videos on a variety of finance topics for students to view.  Videos offer another avenue for information to be acquired by the student.
Investopedia

Although this article is a bit dated, I found it to have relevant and useful information.  I think it could open the minds of some students to help them become finance savvy...which takes a certain degree of comprehension and understanding.
Kiplinger's 6 Best Budgeting Websites, 2008

So check out the links and see where they take you!

Hello!  I have some initial thoughts on using literacy in a math classroom...
My first thought was, "Yeah, right..." But then I let the topic simmer a bit and thought, "Hey, this could work." I really wanted to explore this idea and avenues to incorporate literacy in a math classroom. The real thought is that as a caring educator, I want to know that my students are making intellectual gains in all subjects of their education, not just math.  This includes literacy.