The end is Near Here.
I am very happy I was able to take this course. My mind has
been opened to new ideas about literacy as it applies to mathematics. When I
first heard I was going to have to take a course on literacy instruction, being
a math ed major, I was upset. I thought this course was not going to apply to
me at all. Boy was I wrong!
Literacy is a huge part of mathematics! Students will
benefit greatly as I incorporate different comprehension strategies into my
instruction. Two huge strategies are helping students make connections to prior
knowledge, and make predictions about outcomes. Mathematics builds on prior
knowledge. It seems that everything you learn in math builds on each other. By helping
students understand how something in math connects to their previous knowledge,
comprehension will increase.
Another thing that I think is important in mathematics is
vocabulary instruction. The world of mathematics presents students with plenty
of encounters with new and foreign words. Mathematics is itself a new language.
If I can help students unlock the language of mathematics, then they will
understand it better. (Honestly, have you ever used the words integer or prime
factorization outside of a math classroom?) I like the concept of choosing 7-12
keywords in math and helping students understand those words. Students will not
be able to find the least common multiple of two numbers if they do not know
what a multiple is. What is a divisor? I hope that my students will be able to
understand the language of mathematics.
Also, I really enjoyed doing the self-selected project. I
interviewed a student about his math experiences. I asked him what he thought
when I said “Math book.” He said, “Big boring book that weighs my backpack
down.” I laughed and agreed with him to a point. Besides the few math books I
got as a child, my only experience with a math book revolved around big boring
books that you wouldn’t just pick up for a late night leisurely read. However,
when doing the text set and book talk, I was introduced to a huge world of
awesome math books. As “geeky” as it may sound, I would pick up many of those
books for a leisurely read. Some of the books include Guesstimation: Solving the World's Problems on the Back of a Cocktail Napkin,
Basketball: the Math of the Game, The Number Devil: a Mathematical Adventure, The
Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets, and Math Girls. I told the student I interviewed about these books and
he was genuinely interested in a couple of them. I told him I planned to get
these books and put them in a classroom library. He said he would “actually
check them out.”
For your viewing pleasure...Check out this video for a cool math trick to amaze your friends (I think his accent also helps)! Have a great summer!
