Post # 22 The Language of Math: When Reading & Math Meet

This past year at the IDA International Conference in Connecticut.  We had some wonderful presentations but again, not as many math as I had hoped.  I presented some new material which was recorded for viewing on the IDA website.  I  refined my presentation on word problems.  

The What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guide on problem solving was updated just this month.  I am attempting to get a lock on the convergence between the reading comprehension work and the evidence from math research. John Woodward's group has come to some interesting conclusions.  

As a reading specialist as well as a math specialist, I have some unique insights.  The WWC Practice guide suggests that students who can draw representations have a better grip on solving them.  It also suggests that teachers help students reflect on the problem solving process.  

I am making connections to the continuous reflection of math word problems to Eileen Marzola's strategy on reading comprehension:  Think Before (activate prior knowledge), Think Along (reflect, summarize, predict) and Think After. In math I am altering the sequence to Think Before (activate prior knowledge), Do-Along (organize, draw, note and calculate), Think After (State the solution in a complete sentence).  

The student with language processing deficits may struggle to hold all the meaning and operations in working memory.  We should begin to look at this as a teachable moment for teachers.  Catherine demonstrated this in our recent video conference and Jennifer will also talk about it in her session.  I will try to film the session at some point so that you can all access the video.