Hello Colleagues, One of the things that I am pleased about with the College and Career Readiness Standards is the emphasis on language across the curriculum -- not only in language arts instruction -- and not only for English learners. The folks at Stanford University have been focused on this issue for K12 teachers for some time, and I have found the resources at their Understanding Language website http://ell.stanford.edu/ to be really wonderful. You can find research-oriented papers and videos as well as amazing lesson plans for different subject areas and grade levels at this site.
Stanford senior researcher, Jeff Zwiers (2014), argues that it's important for teachers to pay attention to the specific language that is used in science, math, and social studies. Math can be especially challenging since there are common words that have very different meanings in a math context. For example, think about the common meaning of the following words, and then consider how these words are used in mathematics: balance, interest, power, radical, improper, field, proof, scale, slope, positive, coordinate, plane, similar, odd, real, terms, expression, etc Furthermore, should we assume that students understand these common terms that are frequently used in math: plot, interpret, construct, convert, work backward, isolate, find the relationship between x and y?
In one math lesson I came across on the Stanford site recently, the students worked in teams to plan how to solve a real-world problem. One component of the lesson involved preparing students to make a presentation to the class on how they solved the math problem. Students were given a list of target words they needed to use during their presentations. The students in the audience were responsible to listen for the words to ensure each word was used and that it was used correctly.
I thought this was a brilliant way to draw learners attention to the language of math and to support them to use that language effectively.
What would you say are the pros and cons of having peers provide feedback to one another in this way?
Have you made language a focus in your math instruction? If so, please share how this has worked for you.
Cheers,
Susan
Moderator, Assessment CoP