Writing across the curriculum has been a movement in education and my school district is no exception. With the recent changes to common core and PARCC testing, I found myself at a loss for how I was going to get my students to write in math class. Math is just numbers and symbols right? I had to convince myself otherwise, as the only writing I had ever experienced as a student in math class was a written response for how I solved a story problem.
I attended a conference where a presenter had quirky prompts for responses to literature. Several of them made me chuckle to myself picturing student reactions when asked to write about such silly things. But then it hit me that I could try something similar in my math classes. I started by listing the verbs needed to spruce up my prompts, such as predict, organize, interview, rank and argue. Using this list of words, I worked on finding relations to math. At first, all I could think of were prompts for geometry and was having a hard time creating prompts for other areas of math. Frustrated, I decided to walk away for a day and return to it fresh – that worked! I pulled out my math standards and started listing concepts and vocabulary my students have a hard time with. Then I would match up my math terms with the verb list. Once I got going my pencil couldn’t keep up with my thoughts. I started to combine my prompts with activities listed in my conference notes. To give you an idea of my process, here is a snapshot of the lists I was looking at: Verbs Analyze Apply Argue against Argue for Arrange Blend Blend Build Categorize Choose Classify Combine Compare Compose Connect Construct Contrast Convert Create Decide between Deduce Defend Describe Design Develop Devise Formulate Identify Imagine Interview Invent List Organize Plan Predict Present Prove Rank Recommend Retell Simplify Sort Summarize Suppose Why did Write
Math Terms Algebraic Expressions Angles Area Decimals Dependent/Independent Equations Exponents Fractions Graphing Inequalities Integers Perimeter Probability Proportions Ratios Statistics Surface Area Volume
Note: This list changed for each grade level. This is a generic idea of what was on most of my grade level lists.
Activity Acrostic Poem Arguing for/Against Autobiography Bumper Sticker Cartoon Strip Categorizing Comparing/Contrasting Design a Flier Explaining to Pop Culture Person/Group Give Advice Compose a Catchy Jingle News Report Planning Experiments Ranking Real-world Connection Retelling a Process from Point of View Six-word Summary Storyboard Tell the Life Story Three Facts and a Fib Venn Diagram Would You Rather My goal in creating math prompts was to craft a fun, unusual way for students to demonstrate their knowledge of math vocabulary and explain math processes. They are not prompts that will be on standardized tests. They do, however, make students use their creativity and critical thinking skills to answer.
Let me give additional explanation of a few items on my activity list.
Acrostic Poem – Students choose a word related to the given topic. Each line of the poem begins with a letter from the chosen word. Comparing/Contrasting – Ask students to do these things individually. You will be amazed at how they have been trained to compare AND contrast all the time. The first time I asked my students to contrast percents and decimals, over half of my class told me things that were similar between them and not what was different. Explaining to Pop Culture Person/Group – I love the creativity flowing from students when asked to explain something to Lady Gaga or LeBron James. They look at you strangely the first time you ask them to do this, but it’s amazing the things they come up with. This year my student’s favorite pop culture prompt has been to “Explain the difference between area and perimeter to Katniss Everdeen.” (She’s a Hunger Games character.) Compose a Catchy Jingle – This will appeal to your musical students, but I have also had students rap a jingle too instead of sing. You may need to play some popular jingles they would hear on the radio or TV to get them started on this. Retelling a Process from Point of View – This is one of my personal favorites. Students are asked to retell a process or explain something from the point of view of a related object. For example, “Retell how to add fractions from the point of view of the denominator.” Right off the bat it tells you if students know their vocabulary and can put themselves in the shoes of the “basement number” and explain the process. Six-word Summary – This is exactly what it says. Six words that summarize which really make students think. For example a six-word summary for solving equations could be “Get the variable all by itself,” or “Inverse operations move variable to isolation.” Try one – it’s tricky! Three facts and a fib – Students write three truths and one lie about a topic. I did this just last week asking students to write three facts and a fib about triangles for homework. The next day in class they exchanged papers with a neighbor and had to identify the fib as an opening activity.
https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/minds-in-bloom-3751870/ideas-for-using-writing-in-math-4168166156
I found this blog to have a lot of great ideas on how to combine literacy and mathematics. My favorite idea from this article was "3 facts and a fib". I especially like this idea because it also uses a strategy we discussed in class this past week which is Think, Pair, Share. Students brainstorm 3 facts and a fib about a specific mathematic topic then they pair up with a classmate, and that classmate has to figure out which one is the fib. This is an awesome way to use literacy to support mathematics for middle grades students.
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