Summer Book Study Beginning June 22
Order your copy today or grab your book from your bookshelf.
Chapters 1-3 Thursday June 22
Chapters 4-6 Thursday June 29
Chapters 7-9 Thursday July 6
Come back to join in our study!
You can join the book discussions:
- here on the Building Mathematical Comprehension Page (Be sure to subscribe to my page by adding your email in the top right box labeled: "Follow by email"!)
- Twitter June 23 June 30, and July 7 Follow me on Twitter @FITinEDU
- Facebook Book Group June 22, June 29, and July 7 Times TBA later
Chapter 1 Comprehension Strategies
Focus: Chapter one focuses on the strategies to embrace embrace, model, and guide to move our students to deeper understanding of mathematics.
The Seven Comprehension Strategies p. 29
- Making connections - using schema and building background knowledge
- Asking questions - generating questions before, during, and after reading to clarify understanding
- Visualizing - using sensory and emotional images to deepen and expand meaning
- Making inferences - using background knowledge with new information to predict, conclude, make judgments, or interpret
- Determining the importance - deciding what information is significant
- Synthesizing - creating new ideas or extending/revising understanding based on engagement with texts or mathematics observations/investigations
- Monitoring meaning - thinking about the degree of understanding and taking steps to improve understanding when necessary
Impact: On page 22, Laney states that strategies used to increase comprehension in literacy would be equally effective at increasing comprehension in math. Literacy and Math Strategies is a true connection.
Strategy: Laney’s Six Steps of Explicit Instruction: p. 31
Mini Lesson (Great time to use Math Journals)
- Explain WHAT the strategy is.
- Math Language
- Vocabulary - Math Journals
- Explain WHY the strategy is important.
- Include a description of why you should use the strategy
- Explain WHEN to use the strategy.
- Explain when the strategy should be used.
Teacher Directed
- MODEL HOW to use the strategy in the actual context.
- Model
- Think Alouds
- Modeling Think -Alouds are essential:
- They should be genuine and conversational in manner, so proper planning on the part of the teacher is important
- Be authentic- use life stories that can be related to math. For example, "On Saturday, I baked chocolate chip cookies. The recipe was for one dozen cookies but I only wanted to make six cookies. So, if the recipe called for two cups of flour ... Is the amount of flour I use important?" (You get the idea)
- Be precise and concise- Use a set of sentence stems
- GUIDE STUDENTS as they practice the strategy.
- Practice applying the strategy
- Scaffold
Independent
- Students INDEPENDENTLY use the strategy.
- Interactive Notebooks
Chapter 2 Vocabulary
Focus: Chapter 2 is about vocabulary. Without providing our students with exposure to both math specific vocabulary AND more generalized word work, we are doing them a huge disservice. Vocabulary is essential to student achievement because it has a direct correlation to comprehension.
Impact: On page 47, the author shared the following quote from The Equity Principle of the NCTM (2000), “Excellence in mathematics education requires equity - high expectations and strong support for all students.”
The teacher must be intentional when providing learning experiences that direct the student’s attention to specific vocabulary.
Explicit vocabulary instruction should be integrated into the mathematics curriculum. Pre-teaching mathematics will help students understand new concepts. Pre-teaching vocabulary is preparing students with background knowledge.
Strategies:
Direct vocabulary instruction Concept Maps
Word Wall Spelling Lists
Vocabulary Frayer Model Journaling
Four Squares - Word, Light Bulb Word, Definition, Picture Word Web
Word Web Connect Two
Vocabulary Interactive Notebook Word Sort (SIOP)
Vocabulary Stories
Step 1: Introduce Vocabulary- Provide a description, explanation, or example of the new term.
Step 2: Restate Meanings - Ask students to restate the own description, explanation, or example in their own words.
Step 3: Visuals in Vocabulary Building - Ask students to construct a picture, symbol, or graphic representing the term.
Step 4: Activities for Deeper Understanding - Engage Students periodically in activities that help them add to their knowledge of the terms in their vocabulary notebooks.
Step 5: Vocabulary Discussions - Periodically ask students to discuss the terms with one another.
Step 6: Wordplay - Involve students periodically in games that allow them to play with the terms.
Chapter 3 Making Connections
Focus: Chapter 3’s focus is making connections. Making connections empower students to understand the math they are doing.
Impact:...teachers must also explicitly teach learners how to recognize connections between their new learning and their existing background knowledge (p. 86).
Strategy:
Arthur Hyde (2006) in a book called Comprehending Math he noted that using coding such as Math to Self (M-S), Math to World (M-W )and Math to Math (M-M) gets students to think about math more critically.
Math to Self - connecting math to their real lives and their prior knowledge bases. Students are able to relate the math to their personal experiences.
Questions might look like:
1) Where do I use this in real life?
2) What do I already know about this?
3) Is there a tricky part?
Math to World - connecting between the wider world (events, media, environment) and the math they are studying. Students are able to understand how the role of math is played in their world.
Questions might look like:
1) Where do they talk about this type of math?
2) How do people use this type of math in real life?
3) Have I seen this before in movies or on t.v.?
Math to Math - connecting math to math. Students are able to connect previous learned concepts.
Questions might look like:
1) Did we do something like this last year?
2) Did we do something like this this year?
3) What is the Big Idea here?
4) What are some math ideas that are related to this idea?
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