Integrating Writing in the Math Curriculum

[busbus]

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and school districts are mandating that writing be integrated across all content areas. It is felt that writing in each content area will serve as a tool for students' thinking and problem solving.

I'm not a math teacher; however, I work with a few and the question of "how" to integrate writing comes up. We've come up with many workable ideas; however, I would like to suggest additional ideas to these teachers. It would be wonderful to let them know that these ideas have been "classroom tested" by their fellow math teachers.

Hope I hear from some of you. Thanks!

[upnorthteacher]

One of the easiest ways to incorporate writing with math is to have students write out explanations. Instead of simply showing their work with number sentences or drawings, write a few sentences explaining how they found an answer to a problem and why they chose that method. You can also have students write out their own story problems.

[jsfowler]

Yes, you have to be very creative when writing a math piece. The main thing is that you want the students to have an authentic purpose. The best math piece I have seen was about nutrition labels. They discussed childhood obesity and why it was imoortant to be fit. Then they looked at the food pyramid and nutrition labes on foods. They calculated calories, carbs, fat, etc. and how that all worked into they 2000 calorie a day plan. I can give you a more detailed outline of the paper if you are interested. These pieces scored very well in our state portfolios!

[busbus]

Yes, you have to be very creative when writing a math piece. The main thing is that you want the students to have an authentic purpose. The best math piece I have seen was about nutrition labels. They discussed childhood obesity and why it was imoortant to be fit. Then they looked at the food pyramid and nutrition labes on foods. They calculated calories, carbs, fat, etc. and how that all worked into they 2000 calorie a day plan. I can give you a more detailed outline of the paper if you are interested. These pieces scored very well in our state portfolios!

Thanks, jsfowler,

If you can, I would like a more detailed outline so that I can share it with some of my new teachers.

This is great! :D

[MsCoffeeLover]

Maybe this will help:

1. Children's stories or picture books like the Grapes of Math or Math Curse. Those two books inspired me to get creative with math and writing. Students can take a concept and think about a way to explain it to others. Maybe the ABC's of math book with key words, concepts, and illustrations.


2. Create a song like school house rock as a way to remember something. Believe it or not, I was just singing "Three is the Magic Number," and often refer to it when I have to think in multiples of three. I will bring the words to a school house rock song and apply it to a math principal.

3. Poetry is always fun. A good Haiku is always nice.

4. When I taught math, I began every year with a "Math is Everywhere" activity. We look everywhere around us to really see that Math is everywhere, and the kids have to find or draw pictures or advertisements from newspaper or something explain how some component of math is everywhere.

5. This is not for just math, but I teach my kids how to create the different kinds of test questions. Once they learn to write a good test question, they certainly know how to take a test.

My sister is always telling my niece to use her words. We now have to find a way to restore that to math.

[busbus]

Thanks everyone for your ideas.

I have a lot of resources to share with my new teachers; your input will be added to the resource packet that I will give to them for their resource binder.

Thanks, again.

busbus

[Chef Dave]

When I was an elementary teacher, I was one of those "odd" teachers who dressed up to teach various subjects. For example, when I taught the age of Spanish exploration, I came to school dressed as a conquisatdor. I admit that I was a bit eccentric. I wore $600 custom fitted thigh high leather boots, baggy trousers, a puff sleeved doublet, leather vest, and steel breastplate. I wore a flowing cape around my shoulders, bore an antique leather shield on my arm, and wore a combed morion steel helmet with a white plume on top of my head. My hands were covered with leather gauntlets and I carried the flag of the old Spanish royal family.

Students in my class had to learn some Spanish to speak with me.

When I came to school as Hernando Cortez, the entire day was thematic. In math, we studied equivalent fractions using "gold" doubloons that I downloaded from the internet and glued onto pieces of cardboard. My "pieces of eight" were 1/8th, 1/4th, 1/2th, 1/9th, 1/6th, and 1/3rd fractions.

Students wrote about their experience with pieces of eight in their math journals.

As a matter of historical trivial, the term "pieces of eight" derives from the fact that coinage in the New World was in short supply during the 15th and 16th centuries. Europeans in this part of the world typically broke coins into pieces to facilitate purchases.

http://www.treasurelore.com/florida/g_coin.jpg

[Ima Teacher]

We had two really good math pieces last year from our math department. For the first one, the students developed a plan for an outdoor classroom. For the second one, the students had to redecorate their bedrooms using $1000.

They had to use lots of math in each one. they turned out very good.

[MsCoffeeLover]

Just thought of another one:

Recipes: One of my little ones used to say, "If you can bake, you can do fractions." Kids can take their favorite foods and tell you how to make them and then present it.