I can't help but wonder how students make it to Jr. High without knowing how to read. I would say my reading basic reading skills were built from 1st grade to the third grade, and from there I was able to survive. Yes it was a little late than most people, but my elementary teachers made sure I had the basics down.
So my question is how can I help? Out of the nine instructional elements, I feel that I can easily implement #3 (if I had more guidance in how to approach it). I know there is more to it than just breaking students into groups. Does anyone have any suggestions?
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Hi Chrisel!
I think that one of the key skills in mathematics -- and one that sometimes gets neglected -- is the ability to extract information about a math problem out of a piece of text and express it in mathematical language. It's one thing to be able to solve x^2 + 3 = 7; it's quite another to solve the problem this way: "Abbey had seven square yards of linoleum and used some of it to cover the floor of a square room. She has three square yards left over. How wide is each side of the room, in yards?"
Many students hate story problems, but I think that's because they are given a lot of support on mathematical operations but little support on reading comprehension. I think that, if you give them some of their work in the form of story problems and then work with them to understand the language and translate it into math, they'll get practice with their math skills, buff up their literacy skills, AND learn how to apply math to practical situations.
Then again, I'm not a math teacher, so take all of this with a grain of salt. :)
Cheers,
Chris
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