The Facts  Students receive 12 years of guidance on written communication.  Students receive 6-8 years on reading.  Students receive 11 years on Mathematics.  Reading and writing are important subject areas.

The Question Where do these students learn how to incorporate reading and writing into specific subject areas, such as math?

Reading  Reading is comprised of two parts:  Encoding words from the text to the reader.  Comprehension of the text.  Reading is different for different types of text.  Similar to fantasy texts and biographies, math texts and Spanish texts are extremely different from one another.  Teaching HOW TO READ these texts is extremely important for student comprehension.

How Do I Do This?  Break down parts of the text for the students.  Plan read-alouds.  Use self-questioning.  Model some note-taking strategies.  Have students Pair and Share.  Make sure reading is at appropriate reading level.

REMEMBER…  Teaching students how to effectively read in your content area isn’t a waste of a lesson!  Many students struggle in mathematics because they don’t know how to read the text or symbols.  By teaching reading and the processes associated with reading a specific text, students will benefit greatly.  Be able to read text on their own.  Better comprehend the material in the text.  Make connections and find the similarities/differences between other types of text they are familiar with.

Writing  Author J. Emig says writing is “the most powerful and unique mode of learning.”  Can be graphically recorded and comes directly from the student.  Used in every subject area; extremely important in both college and the real world.  Is another form or learning for students by reviewing and clarifying material.

How Do I Do This?  Have students fill in creative note-taking guides  Encourage journal entries every class  Model a good note-taking strategy  Use opening and closing writing tasks to benefit students (can also be used as a form of assessment)  Plan a session where students rewrite and clarify their previous notes  Have students compare notes in pairs/groups  Use a completion portfolio where students can see their progress throughout the year

REMEMBER…  Teaching writing helps students in every aspect of the classroom, from expressing ideas to reviewing and clarifying concepts.  Students struggle in math also, because they have difficulty solving/writing solutions using mathematical symbols on their own.  By helping students learn how to improve their writing, students will be able to better communicate their ideas, write more effective notes, and can even better their reading skills.

Reading AND Writing  Although explained separately, they are often done simultaneously.  Writing notes while reading helps students slow down reading and better clarify the material.  BOTH are important in everyday life and are used almost everywhere.  It’s important to see how beneficial teaching these skills can be. By knowing these skills, the student can use them in any subject area and everywhere outside of school as well.

“The importance of reading and writing cannot be overstated. Throughout their entire lives, students will be using their ability to read and write to learn and to communicate. Certain disciplines, such as mathematics, may require students to develop special skills in order to read and write effectively in that discipline. It should be important for the teachers in each discipline to educate their students to learn and communicate in that discipline. Otherwise, we may be failing to prepare the students to survive in a society where communication and learning on one’s own are increasing in importance.” – Mark Freitag

Sources  Tovani, Cris. “ Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? Content Comprehension Grades 6-12.” Stenhouse Publishers, Maine.  Freitag, Mark. “Reading and Writing In The Mathematics Classroom.” The Mathematics Educator 8.1: Print.

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