I agree that if students come in with no vocabulary or understanding behind the content, then it is going to make it difficult for them to complete a task. So, question for you, as a math teacher, I think that's what I heard you say... How would you implement literacy strategies into your classroom? I know as I work with students in math classes, it is difficult to help them go through word problems because they aren't understanding to literature used in their textbooks (i.e. addition, subtraction, difference, probability, circumference, etc.) I recognize the issue, but I struggle with helping them A) be able to solve the problem and B) understand and memorize the verbiage.
I think the main point you had is that learning is language based and that better readers are going to excel in the classroom. I agree that reading and writing are the best tools for learning new content and that students can gain meaning for new concepts and terms when they can relate it linguistically to previous knowledge. Yes, we are doing our students a diservice by not focusing on reading and writing. I was working with my subject student for the Learning Profile Assignment and we agreed that more emphasis needs to be put on writing in younger grades. She was a fifth grader and had not yet learned about how to organize thoughts into a paragraph. i would think this should start in some form in the 2nd or 3rd grade!
Scott,
ReplyDeleteI agree that if students come in with no vocabulary or understanding behind the content, then it is going to make it difficult for them to complete a task. So, question for you, as a math teacher, I think that's what I heard you say... How would you implement literacy strategies into your classroom? I know as I work with students in math classes, it is difficult to help them go through word problems because they aren't understanding to literature used in their textbooks (i.e. addition, subtraction, difference, probability, circumference, etc.) I recognize the issue, but I struggle with helping them A) be able to solve the problem and B) understand and memorize the verbiage.
I think the main point you had is that learning is language based and that better readers are going to excel in the classroom. I agree that reading and writing are the best tools for learning new content and that students can gain meaning for new concepts and terms when they can relate it linguistically to previous knowledge. Yes, we are doing our students a diservice by not focusing on reading and writing. I was working with my subject student for the Learning Profile Assignment and we agreed that more emphasis needs to be put on writing in younger grades. She was a fifth grader and had not yet learned about how to organize thoughts into a paragraph. i would think this should start in some form in the 2nd or 3rd grade!
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