A practical look at how to incorporate writing into the K-5 math class in order to deepen student understanding. --
The authors describe five types of writing about math: exploratory writing to make sense of a task; explanatory writing to describe or explain; argumentative writing to construct a critique or justification; mathematically creative writing to respond to math tasks; and reflective writing. They outline ways to integrate this writing into the K-5 math class, discussing what is known about teaching writing and forming classroom communities that support communication, learning the language of math, and specific purposes of writing about math, with classroom vignettes, learning activities, and samples of student work. Dacey is a consultant and professor, Hopping is a mathematics curriculum specialist, and Salemi is a kindergarten teacher. Annotation ©2018 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
To help students communicate their mathematical thinking, many teachers have created classrooms where math talk has become a successful and joyful instructional practice. Building on that success, the ideas in Why Write in Math Class? help students construct, explore, represent, refine, connect, and reflect on mathematical ideas. Writing also provides teachers with a window into each student’s thinking and informs instructional decisions.
Focusing on five types of writing in math (exploratory, explanatory, argumentative, creative, and reflective), Why Write in Math Class? offers a variety of ways to integrate writing into the math class. The ideas in this book will help you make connections to what you already know about the teaching of writing within literacy instruction and build on what you’ve learned about the development of classroom communities that support math talk.
The authors offer practical advice about how to support writing in math, as well as many specific examples of writing prompts and tasks that require high-cognitive demand. Extensive stories and samples of student work from K-5 classrooms give a vision of how writing in math class can successfully unfold.