Synthesis Blog #3

Learning how to read, comprehend, and write text is not the sole responsibility of an English teacher. I was convinced very early into the semester that content-area reading was the way to go, even as a student with a math and science emphasis. This made so much sense to me that it blew my mind away! I do not wish to be an English and literature teacher but Subjects Matter has instilled in me the belief that content-area reading will benefit students in my subjects (all subjects) more than I had ever initially thought. That reading can be interesting and literally all forms of text are on some level beneficial for young readers in all subject areas.

Something that has stayed with me throughout the semester was our short class discussion about how research has shown that mathematics texts contain more concepts per sentence and paragraph than any other type of text. This was very interesting to me, seeing as mathematics seems to be the subject furthest away, being the most unlike English and literature. But math is “written in a very compact style; each sentence contains a lot of information, with little redundancy. The text can contain words as well as numeric and non-numeric symbols to decode.”

In the book Literary Strategies for Improving Mathematical Instruction, chapter two discusses reading in the mathematics classroom and they talk about the underlying issue: “Unless mathematics teachers are generalists and have been trained in reading instruction, they don't see literacy as part of their skill set. More important, they don't appreciate that reading a mathematics text or problem is really very different from other types of reading, requiring specific strategies unique to mathematics. In addition, most reading teachers do not teach the skills necessary to successfully read in mathematics class.” The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics from 1996 states that “mathematics is so often conveyed in symbols, [that] oral and written communication about mathematical ideas is not always recognized as an important part of mathematics education. Students do not necessarily talk about mathematics naturally; teachers need to help them to do so.”

I see my bookclub reading, Monster’s Proof, in my future classroom and I think implementing any type of reading can be beneficial and quite enjoyable in a math class. I’ve also fallen in love with “Mathematician Monday”! How interesting and fun it would be to have a mini history lessons on the minds behind the formula names. Prior to this class, I had never thought about implementing much text in my math classroom. Having begun this course, I question why content-area literacy didn’t really seem to exist in my past schooling… perhaps I simply did not notice.

Literary Strategies for Improving Mathematical Instruction recommends the Think Aloud strategy to help students begin to understand how to approach and interpret intimidating word problems. This text also includes before, during, and after reading strategies. It's pretty awesome stumbling upon a reading that talks about what we've already discussed in class. I fully see a place for content-area literacy in my classrooms. (510 words)

Shoutout to Mr. Robinson! Thank you for a semester full of great strategies, interesting discussions, and wonderful lessons. I appreciate all of your feedback on my work and I thank you for introducing us to Subjects Matter. I hope you have a safe and happy holiday season!