I has always been my belief that teaching literacy has a lot to do with teaching mathematics, so I have put numbers and math vocabulary on the wall opposite the literacy references for reading and/or writing strategies in my Read 180 room. Let me put it this way, mathematics is found/interwoven in literacy (e.g. word problems), science (e.g. measurement and medicine), and social studies (e.g. census, cartography, history, and, I can safely say, cooking). Well, these are what I can think of at the moment.
What I heard/learned at the Summer Academy about the similarity in the delivery of teaching math and literacy was a confirmation that make me delve more into this notion!! In the past, because I don't always follow directions, I have sneaked in some Math lessons (you know, those teachable moments) during the Read 180 sessions. After all, we have number sentences in Math and similarly we have sentences in literacy. My English Language Learners (ELLs), some still in contained ESL classrooms while some have been mainstreamed, need to learn how to correctly spell single and/or multiple digit numbers in words. These students don't have a minute to waste since they are already running after a moving target! They can perform well when computing problems represented by numbers, however, when they are faced with word problems they have difficulties due to the language proficiency. That does not necessarily mean that they don't have mathematical abilities. It is my own experience when I moved here from Indonesia, because I was accustomed to use the metric system and I had to switch to the American system of pounds, gallons, and miles.
So far, this is what I have come up with when I compare math to literacy:
Basically, in literacy we have the letters from a-z while in math we have the numbers from 0-9 and we need to know them and read them. We can read letters and numbres. We can arrange letters into words that we can read and we certainly can read numbers. We have one letter and multiple letter words just as we have numbers, which stand alone and we have multiple numbers too.
A sentence has three parts: subject, predicate, and object. Can I, possibly/correctly think that it is similar to our place value, where we have the ones, tens, and hundreds, going on and on.......separated by commas, just like the complex sentences with the commas and conjunctions? I always tell my students that they have to read all the symbols in math, including the commas. If they see one comma then it will be in the thousand for a four digit number, if they see two commas then it will be in the million for a seven digit number and so on.......What do you think?
What about the parts of speech? Where are they in comparison to math? Is there any connections here?
I have a quadrant, on a poster board, of additions, subtractions, multiplications, and divisions (with examples and vocabulary) on the wall, but I don't have it for the parts of speech. So perhaps, next week I can create a quadrant of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs (with examples) and put that up on the wall with the reading and/or writing strategies. How are they similar and how are they different? I am tired and am going to bed now........good night!!
Have a great weekend you all!!
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2 comments:
Ina,
I think what you are saying in the first part of this post is that both math and reading use symbols to represent ideas. In reading, the symbols represent ideas (sounds, slight breaks, the end of a statement, etc.) In math, we have different symbols for the most part, but those marks too, simply represent ideas (of quantity, pattern, comparison, etc.). The BIG idea here is that it makes no more sense to teach symbols in isolation and call it 'math' than it does to teach letters in isolation and call it 'literacy'.
The question about similarities between math and literacy could be addressed in more than one way. You have addressed the structure of each. Now think about the delivery of each. In other words, think about what good literacy teaching LOOKS like in a classroom. What do you believe makes a rich literacy experience for a student? Now ask yourself If and how any of those criteria might also be true for a rich mathematical experience.
Maggie,
Now that I finally am again able to post, after spending more than half an hour to figure out what I needed to do, I can try to reply.
I am not sure how I should answer your questions, but I will try.
With my struggling English language learners in the READ 180 program, good literacy teaching means that I have a selection of books from picture books to chapter books. Having the parts of speech chart and other references available for the students. I encourage them to be comfortable to find ways to do their own research, for instance when they ask me about whether or not Crazy Horse is real, one of my teachable moments. I asked them back, "What do you think?" One student who was new in the room an who has not read it on the computer program said that it is a horse, so it must be real. His 12 peers laughed at him. However, I praised the boy for his bravity and this kind of silenced the 12 peers!! I sent the boy to a computer and asked him to get on the internet to do a bit of research, when the other 12 only watched. I like reward those who bravely answer or ask questions.....we all watched how this boy expertly navigated through the internet and he saw the monumental carving of Crazy Horse. I seldom give students answers I walk them to the answer by asking more informative questions.
The other day, when I gave a student a three digit number in standard form, I asked him to give me the written form and for 876 he wrote eight seventy six, instead of eight hundred seventy six. That's when I asked, "Eight what?" And orally he said eight seventy six again. I repeated my question and only after 5 times, one of the other students "Got It," and correctly read the number!!
I appreciate your feedback.
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