WRITING: A REQUIREMENT FOR

MATH SUCCESS!

WHO AM I?DOLLEEN WILTGEN

AVERY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL-I TEACH 4TH GRADE MATH-CONSTRUCTIVISM-DEMOGRAPHICS 1,121 STUDENTS 19% ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED 11% STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES 4% ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS

MY GOALS TODAY

1. EXPLAIN THE IMPORTANCE OF INCLUDING WRITING IN THE MATH CLASSROOM.

2. LET YOU SAMPLE WHAT WRITING IN THE MATH CLASSROOM LOOKS AND FEELS LIKE.

3. GAIN IDEAS ABOUT HOW TO BRIDGE THE WRITING AND MATH CONTENT AREAS.

MY EDUCATIONAL JOURNEY

DIDN’T THINK I COULD DO MATH! TURNS OUT, I COULD!

INQUIRY QUESTION:

HOW CAN I TEACH IN A WAY THAT

REDUCES MATH ANXIETY AND

INCREASES MATH COMPREHENSION?

THE ANSWER:

INCLUDE WRITING ACTIVITIES

IN THE MATH CLASSROOM

INQUIRY QUESTION PART 1

HOW CAN I TEACH IN A WAY THAT

REDUCES MATH ANXIETY?

MATH ANXIETY RESEARCH93% OF AMERICANS REPORT HAVING NEGATIVE MATH EXPERIENCES FROM K THROUGH COLLEGE

DISPROPORTIONATELY LARGE PERCENTAGE OF ELEMENTARY TEACHERS DISLIKE AND AVOID MATH

THERE ARE TWO MAJOR SOURCES OF MATH ANXIETY:

1—MATH ANXIOUS TEACHERS UNINTENTIONALLY PASS ON MATH ANXIETY THROUGH NEGATIVE MATH COMMENTS AND BELIEFS.

2—INEFFECTIVE MATH TEACHING

(FURNER & DUFFY)

MATH AUTOBIOGRAPHY WRITING ACTIVITY

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:

WRITE ABOUT A MATH LEARNING EXPERIENCE FROM YOUR PAST.

THINK ABOUT:

MATH TEACHERS AND STUDENTSGOOD AND BAD MATH EXPERIENCESUNITS OF STUDY SUCH AS

-ADDITION-SUBTRACTION-MULTIPLICATION-DIVISION-ALGEBRA-GEOMETRY

HELPS STUDENTS DISCOVER THE ROOT OF THEIR MATH ANXIETY SO THEY CAN WORK TO RESOLVE THE CAUSE.

BIBLIOTHERAPY WRITING

STUDENTS READ STORIES WITH CHARACTERS THAT HAVE EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES THEY CAN IDENTIFY WITH AND WRITE A READING RESPONSE IN THEIR JOURNAL AS A MEANS OF TENSION RELEASE OR CATHARSIS.

HELPS THE STUDENT KNOW HE/SHE IS NOT ALONE AND CAN LEAD TO THE STUDENT GAINING IDEAS ABOUT HOW TO EFFECTIVELY RESOLVE EMOTIONS.

(FURNER & DUFFY)

BIBLIOTHERAPY WEB SITE

INQUIRY QUESTION PART 2:

HOW CAN I TEACHIN A WAY THAT

INCREASES MATH COMPREHENSION?

EFFECTIVE MATH TEACHING RESEARCH

1-CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING

2-PROCEDURAL FLUENCY

3-THE ABILITY TO FORMULATE AND REPRESENT PROBLEMS

4-THE CAPACITY FOR LOGICAL THOUGHT, EXPLANATION, AND JUSTIFICATION

5-THE BELIEF THAT MATH MAKES SENSE

(BAXTER, WOODWARD, AND OLSON)

MATH COMPREHENSION

COMMUNICATION IS A MUST!

1-LECTURE

2-MEMORIZATION

3-PRACTICE

INEFFECTIVE TEACHING

“WRITING IS A WAY TO WORK YOURSELF INTO A SUBJECT AND

MAKE IT YOUR OWN.”WILLIAM ZINSSER, WRITING TO LEARN

WRITING ENGAGES ALL STUDENTS! WRITING REQUIRES STUDENTS TO ORGANIZE, CLARIFY, AND REFLECT ON THEIR IDEAS—ALL USEFUL FOR MAKING SENSE OF MATHEMATICS. MOREOVER, WRITING GIVES TEACHERS A WINDOW INTO THE UNDERSTANDINGS AND MISCONCEPTIONS OF THEIR STUDENTS.

(MARILYN BURNS, WRITING IN MATH CLASS)

SIX WAYS TO WRITE IN MATH CLASS

1—JOURNAL WRITING--CHRONOLOGICAL LOG OF LEARNING

2—HAVE STUDENTS EXPLAIN MATH SOLUTIONS

3—HAVE STUDENTS EXPLAIN MATH CONCEPTS

4—CREATIVE WRITING

5—RESPONSE TO LITERATURE

6—MATH ASSESSMENT WRITING

1—JOURNAL WRITINGCHRONOLOGICAL LOG OF LEARNING

STUDENTS RESPOND TO JOURNAL PROMPTS OR SIMPLY WRITE A REFLECTION OF THEIR DAILY LEARNING. SOME GENERAL PROMPTS MAY BE:

DESCRIBE USING WORDS AND PICTURES WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED SO FAR.

DESCRIBE WHAT YOU ARE STILL NOT SURE ABOUT.

(BURNS)

JOURNAL WRITING STUDENT EXAMPLE: CHRONOLOGICAL LOG OF LEARNING

STUDENT HAS A FULL TOOL BOX FOR HOW TO TRY TO SOLVE WORD PROBLEMS.

FEELING CONFIDENT!

JOURNAL WRITING STUDENT EXAMPLE: CHRONOLOGICAL LOG OF LEARNING

SOME STUDENTS LIKE AND NEED A PROMPT TO HELP THEM WITH THE WRITING PROCESS.

“IF YOU DON’T KNOW THE ANSWER IT IS OKAY…”

JOURNAL WRITING STUDENT EXAMPLE: CHRONOLOGICAL LOG OF LEARNING

STUDENT GRASPED MANY CONCEPTS ABOUT DECIMALS.

“IF WE DIDN’T HAVE A DECIMAL OUR NUMBERS WOULD BE SLAPPED TOGETHER AND IT WOULD BE A BIG OLD NUMBER.”

“Ut-oh…I don’t think I get this!”

2—EXPLAIN A MATH SOLUTION

EVEN THOUGH SOME CHILDREN CAN DO MATH CALCULATIONS, THEY DO NOT ALWAYS UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY ARE DOING. THIS LEADS TO MATH ANXIETY WHEN ATTEMPTING TO DO WORD PROBLEMS AND MATH FAILURE IN HIGHER LEVEL MATH CLASSES.

(BURNS, ABOUT TEACHING MATH)

EXPLAIN A MATH SOLUTION

STUDENT SHOWS CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF MULTIPLICATION AND ADDITION.

EXPLAIN A MATH SOLUTION

THESE ARECONFIDENCEBOOSTING TASKS THAT DEVELOP MATHEFFICACY.

3—EXPLAIN A MATH CONCEPT

MUCH OF MATH IS ABSTRACT. CHILDREN CANNOT BE TOLD CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING; THEY MUST CONSTRUCT THAT KNOWLEDGE FOR THEMSELVES. WRITING PROVIDES THEM WITH PATHWAYS FOR MAKING SENSE OF MATHEMATICS.

(BURNS, ABOUT TEACHING MATH)

EXPLAIN A MATH CONCEPT

LOOK FOR MORE THAN A DESCRIPTION OF A PROCEDURE OR SYMBOL; LOOK FOR USE IN MULTIPLE CONTEXTS

MATH CONCEPT WRITING ACTIVITY: WHAT IS THE NUMBER TWO?

Your Assignment:

Use words and pictures to explain to someone, who didn’t know anything about math, what the number two means.

WHAT IS THE NUMBER TWO?“NUMBER IS AN ABSTRACTION. NO ONE HAS EVER SEEN A NUMBER AND NO ONE EVER WILL. ‘TWONESS’ IS AN IDEA. WE SEE ILLUSTRATIONS OF THIS IDEA EVERYWHERE, BUT WE DO NOT SEE THE IDEA ITSELF. IN A SIMILAR WAY THE SYMBOL 2 IS USED TO ELICIT A WHOLE SERIES OF RECOLLECTIONS AND EXPERIENCES THAT WE HAVE ENTAILING THE CONCEPT OF TWO, BUT THE SQUIGGLY LINE 2 IS IN AND OF ITSELF NOT THE CONCEPT.”

(AS CITED IN MARSHALL)

4—CREATIVE MATH WRITING

STUDENTS CAN USE ALL STYLES OF WRITING TO DEMONSTRATE MATH UNDERSTANDING.

STORIES, POEMS, RESEARCH PROJECTS

THE FACIAL EXPRESSIONS SHOW HOW THEIR MINDS ARE HAVING FUN DOING THIS WRITING TASK!

(BURNS, ABOUT TEACHING MATH)

CREATIVE STORY STUDENT EXAMPLEDEMONSTRATING MULTIPLICATION ABILITIES

CREATIVE WRITING STUDENT EXAMPLERESEARCH PROJECT ABOUT MULTIPLICATION

STUDENTS LEARNED HOW TO DO LATTICE MULTIPLICATION AND TAUGHT IT TO THE CLASS!

CREATIVE WRITING ACTIVITY:IF I WERE ONE CENTIMETER TALL…

Your Assignment:

Use words and pictures to tell what life would be like if you were one centimeter tall!

5—RESPOND TO LITERATURE WRITING

STUDENTS RE-THINK AND RE-STATE IN THEIR OWN WORDS CONCEPTS THEY ARE LEARNING WHEN DOING WRITING ACTIVITIES.

MARILYN BURNS HAS MULTIPLE FICTION AND NON-FICTION LESSON PLANS AVAILABLE.

WRITING ACTIVITY: EXPLAIN MATH SOLUTION/RESPONSE

TO LITERATURE COMBINED1. Read “Smart” with a partner. 2. Act it out, exchanging money and recording your findings as

you go along.

3. Answer the question: “Did the boy in the poem make a good deal?”

4. Use your findings, words, and pictures to explain your reasoning. Also, address the following in your writing:What was the flaw in the boy’s thinking? How would you explain to him the meaning of a number?What kind of math skills did you use? Why?

Smart by Shel Silverstein

6—ASSESSMENT MATH WRITING

MULTIPLE CHOICE TESTS MAKE STUDENT ANSWERS EITHER RIGHT OR WRONG. WRITING IS A WINDOW INTO THE STUDENT’S MIND, PROVIDING THE TEACHER WITH THE ABILITY TO SEE THAT THE THINKING MIGHT BE CORRECT EVEN THOUGH THE ANSWER IS INCORRECT.

EXAMPLE: ASSESSMENT WRITING IN MATH CLASS

IF THE GOAL IS TO USE THE ASSESSMENT TO HELP

THE TEACHER AND STUDENT IMPROVE MATH

COMPREHENSION, WOULD YOU USE A

WRITTEN ASSESSMENT OR

SCANTRON?

INQUIRY QUESTION:

HOW CAN I TEACH IN A WAY THAT

REDUCES MATH ANXIETY AND

INCREASES MATH COMPREHENSION?

THE ANSWER:

INCLUDE WRITING ACTIVITIES

IN THE MATH CLASSROOM

MY PERSONAL FINDINGS

Year CRCT Scores2008 86% Passed (Minimal

Writing in Classroom)2009 92% Passed (Writing In

Classroom—Full Year)2010 96% Passed (Writing in

Classroom—Teacher More Skilled)

COMPARING MY STUDENTS’3RD GRADE AND 4TH GRADE SCORES

2008 CRCT Score

2009 CRCT Score

779 846797 860 EXCEEDED794 855 EXCEEDED791 818756 855 EXCEEDED797 838756 797 NOT PASS

ESOL STUDENT

7 FAILED CRCT IN 3RD GRADE; ONLY ONE FAILED IN 4TH GRADE

MY PERSONAL FINDINGS

Parent letter sent to my principal:

“[M]ove Mrs. Wiltgen up to fifth grade would you? Boy then I would not have to worry about him. I know they have to have extra school to teach higher math, but something about her and the way she teaches these kids Math I have never seen this before. I mean don't do it unless she wants to but this would be great for my son and the other kids she has helped this year. You do not understand JASON UNDERSTANDS MATH he gets it when he never has before.”

INQUIRY QUESTION:HOW CAN I TEACH

IN A WAY THAT REDUCES MATH ANXIETY

AND INCREASES

MATH COMPREHENSION?

1—WRITING ACTIVITIES IN THE MATH CLASSROOM ARE REQUIRED TO REDUCE MATH ANXIETY.

2—WRITING ACTIVITIES IN THE MATH CLASSROOM ARE REQUIRED TO IMPROVE MATH COMPREHENSION

WHAT QUESTIONS DO YOU STILL HAVE

ABOUT WRITING IN MATH CLASS?

HOW COULD MATH WRITING BE USED IN THE WRITING CLASSROOM?

HOW CAN YOU USE MY MATH WRITING IN YOUR CLASS?