What Is It?

A secondary math classroom that supports literacy development is one in which students and teachers use language processes to enhance and demonstrate understanding. Teachers in these settings make connections, verbally and in writing, between current and prior lessons. Teachers model problem-solving by thinking aloud, and students are asked to articulate, verbally or in writing, how they solve problems. In such a classroom, students do not fear word problems but actively practice them. Teachers introduce mathematical figures as language features. Students and teachers are active in concept development. Common processes in such classrooms include word play, connections to real life, examples of real life applications, varied groupings, and team work to construct and present solutions to mathematical problems.

Suggested Strategies and Resources

Use of the following teaching and learning strategies will support literacy development and enhance the understanding of math concepts: Think Alouds, graphic organizers, word problems, brainteasers, math journals, Inquiry Models, Quick Writes, Word Walls, concept maps, flow charts, computer or graphic programming, creation of texts, Socratic Questioning, and WebQuests. (A description of most of these strategies can be found in the links under Key Component B.)

Specific examples of how many of these strategies can be directly integrated into the high school math classroom include the following:

Students are working in small groups to categorize types of problems from an algebra text. They are comparing the problems to a criteria list for a high-quality final exam, selecting the problems they feel should be included, and writing a rationale for their selections. Groups will exchange problem selections and work the problems together to prepare for the final exam, which they will take individually.

Before you can implement this Key Component, your stakeholders will need to consider some or all of these questions. The questions could be used in group discussions, needs sensing activities, and informal small-group conversations.

• How would planning and teaching change if the strategies described were common practice? How would they remain the same?

• What are the existing barriers to incorporating more of a literacy-focused approach to content area teaching and learning?

• What needs to happen to address these barriers?