| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

FrontPage

Page history last edited by PBworks 16 years, 6 months ago

Welcome to Writing Across the Curriculum: Mathematics

 

Written and developed by Patricia Hubbard and Tonie Weddle for Teaching Writing in the Content Areas, ENOL 531, Dr. Melonie Cardell, University of the Cumberlands.

 

This space is designed to provide information, motivation, and stimulation for using writing in math to promote student interaction with and retention of math concepts. Use the side bar at the right to navigate this Wiki space.

 

Overview

Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) is an educational reform movement that gained momentum in the U.S. in the 1970's and has given impetus to a number of curricular innovations. It grew out of the conviction that children are capable of learning in a variety of creative ways, ways that go beyond traditional pedagogical methods of rote memorization and lecture. Writing is seen as a method for encouraging creative learning, and a gradually developing body of research supports this idea. This emphasis on writing to learn has characterized early WAC efforts.

 

Composition research during the 1980s pointed out the differences in the ways people write in different disciplines, and in different organizational roles. To many writing teachers and theorists, the importance of discipline-specific communication skills in preparing students for careers is tremendously important. Research since the mid '70s suggests that in many instances, writing can facilitate more creative, active learning of course content (WAC). 

 

Writing is an integreal part of life; innovative teachers who infuse writing into their math curriculum will promote student literacy skills. It is up to individual teachers to adopt the idea that teachers are an integreal part of student learning. And, in order for writing to be successful in the classroom it needs to be embraced, learned and implemented by teachers (Liedtke, p. 350).

 

Objectives

 

During the space of this course, teachers will:

 

  • Gain an understanding of Writing Across the Curriculum as it applies to mathematics.
  • Know the five types of writing that should be used in a mathematics classroom.
  • Learn three ways to evaluate the writing students produce in math class.
  • Discuss and implement best practice within the framework of writing in math.
  • Devise plans to integrate writing into the mathematics curriculum.

 

      Writing in math supports learning in many ways. Through practice students learn to organize, clarify and reflect on their ideas. It is a "window"  by which teachers can see how students comprehend math concepts (Burns, p. 30). Writing in math class is also different than traditional writing in other content areas, but is relative to student understanding and learning. According to Marilyn Burns, founder of Math Solutions Professional Development, there are five types of writing to use in mathematics instruction.

 

 Five types of writing that should be emphasized in the mathematics classroom:

 

  • Journals or logs - An ongoing record of student thinking and learning in  math class. Through journal writing, the teacher can gain an overview of student responses in a class (what have they learned?), propels discussion toward different ideas students understand, or enjoy, or find important (Burns, 1995).

    • Three guidelines to follow in journal writing: what they did; what they learned; what they are not sure about or wondering about.

 

  • Solving math problems - Provides students with experience using and applying mathematical skills to problems or situations.

    • Students show their work. Provides insight into how students think about the process.

       

  • Explaining mathematical ideas - Students writing about specific math concepts. Through this type of writing students are able to present their thinking and this helps give the teacher insight and understanding about the processes students are following to get to the end product.

    • Ask students to answer the question, "What is division?"

 

  • General math wriitng - Writing that is refelctive in nature, emphasizing self-assessment.

    • What were their most and least favorite activities in a unit and explain why.

 

 

  •  Creative math writing - Based on a math concept, students produce a creative writing piece.  

 

    • Create math concept poems                     

 

 

Writing a poem in math is like mixing oil and water you may think; but actually, combing the concrete concepts of math with abstract poetic language is not only creative but challenging. As quoted in Rob Keller's article The Math Poem, "Mathematical imagination and imagery, closely linked, provide the hidden vision that allows us to see the hidden but exquisite structure below the surface". In the article, Keller, a mathematics teacher collaborates with an English teacher to create poems incorporating math terms. A minimum number of terms as well as following the conventions of poetry was also required from each student. 

 

        Students were able to make powerful connections and see math in a whole new light, "This poem let me notice that all the frustrating vocbulary of mathematics can be used in different and beautiful ways" (Keller, p. 346). 

 

 

EQUATIONS

   by KRIS MCNAMARA

 

 

To put my life on a graph

would be pointless.

 It wouldn't just be a few parabolic lines;

 it would consist of so many peaks and valleys.

The most complex formula couldn't locate

all the coordinates.

I find that the people around me

are a function of my moods.

 People whose personalities parallel mine

 create an environment where I'm comfort-

 able and content.

There are, however, the ill-accepted exponents

in the daily equation that give off

perpendicular vibes and overflow the

quadrants surrounding me with crooked

isosceles-shaped auras.

I wish I could engulf these outliers of my daily

scatterplot with a mighty radical and cut

them down to size.

 Then maybe I wouldn't feel quite so much

 like a rotation in which my midpoint is the

 people I interact with, who influence me

 when I least want them to.

My life might then possibly be a legible grid,

representing my plunging and leaping

personality.

 

          This type of writing allows students to think and create in a whole new way that promotes thinking. "Combining poetry and mathematics offers a fresh perspective on both disciplines and a chance to use mathematical terms to convey ideas and feelings in a creative and, at times, personally satisfying way" (Keller, p. 347). By combining the concepts of math and poetry, concepts outlined by the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics such as 1) Students will recognize and use connections among mathematical ideas, 2) Students will apply mathematics in contexts outside of math, and 3) Students will organize and consolidate their mathematical thinking through communication (NCTM, 2000). Creating poems in math encompasses all these standards. 

 

       Another way to use poetry in math is to have students select a math concept and answer the following list of questions.

 

 

      • What could you compare your math concept to? How would you describe it? (simile/metaphor)

      • What actions does it perform? (vivid verbs/ specific details)

      • Where in everyday life do people run into this math concept?

      • Does it create any problems for people? What problems does it solve?

      • How does it help people? What problems does it solve?

      • What might your math concept say, ask, think, advise, do? (personification, onomatopoeia)

      • Without this math concept, what might life be like? Could we live without it? 

 

 

After students have completed the questions, they then eliminate words condensing the poem to the most relevant terms resulting in a poem such as the following:

 

 

 

Geometry

 

Sleeping math skill

intersecting with us everyday

constructing buildings

entertaining the masses

navigating us around town

“I’m everywhere”, it could brag

But that would rouse it

from its nap

without it though

this poem would never

 

 

by Rebecca Skaggs

 

(Used by permission from the author and Abell & Attherton Consulting www.aaec.info).

 

 

        Using learning logs is another writing tool that can be used to help reinforce learning and help students connect new knowledge to previous knowledge (Mathematics Teacher, 2001). As with anyhing worthwhile, teachers must model for their students how to keep a learning log by journaling themsleves and guiding students through the process through talk-aloud; a method by which teachers tell students their thoughts as they write them on paper (or in a journal). An example of a learning log is:

 

Prompt: This topic we are now studying in mathematics builds on what we have already learned this year. Let me explain what I mean...

Student Response: I use the multiplication property of zero to help me use the zero product property because I know that if a . b = 0, then a = 0 or b = 0. You must know that any number times 0 equals zero (Mathematics Teacher, 2001)

 

Writing projects for that's-the-way-it-is concepts, as outlined in Vadim Golembo's article, Writing a

PEMDAS Story allows students a creative context in which to explore a concept such as the order of operations. Using mathematical operations related to real-world situations allows students to share their ideas with peers, be creative and write (Golembo, 2000).

 

     It's up to mathematics teachers to take on the role of incorporating writing into the math curriculum. Find resources and strategies to add to your repertoire of teaching strategies. By including meaningful writing in a varitey of ways in the classroom, teachers will see how writing benefits students' understanding of math and its concepts (Burns, p.33). 

 

     Not only are there multiple ways to write in math, but there are also a number of was to assess writing as well. Here are some suggestions from Mathematics consultant Marilyn Burns:

 

Ways to Assess:

  • Students should have personal portfolios for saving work at various stages
  • Students need brief informal oral responses while they are working on their writing.
  • Teachers should grade only a few student -selected pieces to allow students the freedom to take risks.
  • Teachers should assess a few specific errors that were taught for that lesson.
  • Assessment should be based on a cumulative view of growth and self-evaluation.
  • Teachers should encourage risk taking with honest expression.

 

       Writing across the curriculum, and teaching students to communicate effectively in any content area, is the responsibility of every teacher in every content area. In order for students to become proficient writers in school and as they move into adulthood, thinking and writing must be practiced. Mathematics teachers need to rise to the challenge by modeling writing in the classroom; providing appropriate student practice with guidance in contextual situations, motivating students through stimulating assignments/projects, and encouraging good writing habits - following the conventions of English when appropriate. Mathematics teachers need to reevaluate their current practices to ensure they are using the most effective objecitves, methods of instruction and assessment procedures in their instructional pratices. It is not only crucial that these practices fall in line with state standards, but national standards as well. Effective reflection of current practices and planning for writing in the clasroom is essential (Ediger, 2006).

     

        Throughout the rest of this wiki you will find resources available to assist math teachers in implementing writing in their classroom. These tools range from lesson plans to articles, and standards, as well as many other resources. 

 

Comments (0)

You don't have permission to comment on this page.