Strengthening Evidence-Based Reading in Math
Reading in the Math CurriculumMath texts contain symbols, equations, concise explanations, and graphic representations that require students to read slowly and deliberately. Understanding the technical vocabulary of mathematics is critical to knowing how to set up a problem or an equation. Students must also understand the multiple meanings of words such as power, root, tangent, reciprocal, and degree, which have specific meanings in mathematics that are quite different from their meanings in other contexts.
Understanding the language or vocabulary of mathematics is only the beginning of the literacy skills required to be successful with reading and understanding mathematics text. Other literacy challenges include
Constructing meaning through discussion and writing is the natural next step to comprehension. Provide students an opportunity to discuss and investigate solutions and apply math vocabulary in their writing and their thinking. When students have an opportunity to write about their thinking through the problem-solving process, they become much better at constructing meaning and understanding of the math concepts and not just the math operation. |
Sample Reading Tasks in Math
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Lesson Ideas |
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Sample Lesson: Sine, Cosine, & Tangent
Before reading, instruct students to:
- Use the textbook to quickly review the definition of sine, cosine, and tangent.
- Stop and Jot your own definitions.
- Turn and Talk with a partner: Discuss a real -world scenario in which you might need to calculate something using these concepts.
- Where do triangles appear in real-‐world structures?
- Ask students to read the following problem: A fireman rests his ladder against a building, making a 57° angle with the ground. The bottom of the ladder is 28' from the base of the building. How long is the ladder?
- Instruct students to Stop and Draw: quickly sketch out this scenario. Think about HOW you will solve this problem.
- Turn and Talk: Share your sketches and compare. Discuss how you each think you will solve the problem.
- Work independently to solve the problem.
- Turn and Talk: Compare problem-solving approaches and solutions. What was the same and what was different?
- Work together to generate an alternative set of steps to solve the problem.