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Article 3: //Writing in Maths//



Abstract: This article presents a collection of ideas for incorporating writing in mathematics teaching. Students write definitions or explanations of mathematical words or symbols in their own words. These can be collated and added to as the year progresses to form a class dictionary that all students can access as required, or students could create their own personal dictionaries.

Idea one: “Now I Get It” When students have an “a-ha” moment, teachers have the “now I get it” sheets by which students may record their understanding. Students should have a collection of these by end of each marking period.

Idea two: “Sentence Starters” for journal writing. Examples: One thing I learned in maths today was… I was pleased that I… I found out that… means… I think that I’m getting better at… I’m still confused about… These sentence starters can be a great way to get students to record their learning in their journals, and they can trail off the starters to give further detail and understanding.

Idea three: “Link Sheets” A link sheet is a communication aid for clarifying and developing mathematical ideas and processes. It consists of a sheet divided into four quadrants with different labels; e.g., Maths Example, Everyday Example, Diagram/ Picture or graph.

Idea four: “Mobiles” Hang mathematical facts or insights from wire coat hangers. Provide students with a range of materials to create mobiles, such as string, streamers, cardboard and pipe cleaners. Students can make number mobiles showing at least seven things they know about a selected number. Variations could include taking digital photographs of where their number occurs in the school or playground, magazine cut outs, or replacing the number with a shape or mathematical term.

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Idea five: “Behind the Door” <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Fold an A4 piece of paper in half and cut three slits in the top half to make four “doors” that, when lifted, reveal answers underneath. Behind the door activities assist teachers to present criteria, questions or problems for students to solve and students can also create their own behind the door activities for their peers to solve. For example, each student draws and labels a shape on each of their four doors; another student then has the task of finding the shape in the classroom and recording its location under the flap.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Response: <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">This article has some great ideas for integrating writing in the math classroom. They can all be used so beneficially as long as the teacher does not overuse them and ascertains the students understanding of the assignment. There are a lot of ways in which a teacher can implement more writing in a classroom, but when it comes to a math classroom, it becomes more challenging for the teachers to make sure it makes sense for the students. But these five ideas given in the article help point out some good ideas for implementation, as well as a brief description.

Citation:

"Writing In Maths." //Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom// 14.3 (2009): 19-20. //ERIC//. Web. 9 Dec. 2012.



<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;">Article 4: //Making MATH Connections//

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Summary: In this article, some schools participate in project K-Nect, which is a grant funded program that has adopted smartphones as teaching tools in some math classes. Each student in a project K-Nect class is issued a smartphone. The phones provide internet access, video-camera technology, and instant messaging options. But, the text and voice capabilities are disabled (which prevents text and talk). On these phones, students are able to blog and create movies. The blogs may give help to other students, and the movies may highlight math solutions. Also, they might use the Web to view their math textbook online while riding a school bus to a sporting event; to consult the long list of "best math sites" compiled by both students and teachers as a repository; or to find helpful information about various math subjects. Teachers say one of the biggest benefits they've seen from the use of the technology is that students' confidence levels and their ability to truly understand and explain the math they're doing have risen. Because students are often helping their peers on the blogs and through instant messaging, they have to clarify just how they solved a problem. Another plus for the teachers is that they can monitor the time students spend on the phone, for example on a particular problem. May be a downfall, but is if it benefits student learning, would be worth doing, is that at least 9 hours of intensive training must be done by the teachers to become comfortable with the smartphones. Teachers also participate in project K-Nect for instructional activities and all they would need to know about the education capabilities. The plus side is students are monitored on the phones, so they cannot simply use it for Facebook, or nonsense web browsing, but rather for math related content and curriculum, blogging, helping classmates, receiving help, or doing homework.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Personal Response: I find this very interesting! I think that with proper training, I could enjoy this as a teacher, especially with middle school students. I do not have a smartphone, but I do know that those who have them love them! And this may be a great way for the students to stay in touch with their inner tech-savvy selves, but also learn from this new innovative way to learn and express math. I think that since students can be monitored, this can be a very beneficial technological tool to adapt in the classroom (if budget allows).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Citation: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">DAVIS, MICHELLE R. "Making MATH Connections." //Education Week// (2011): 38-40. //Education Research Complete//. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.

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