Previously in Subjects Matter, Daniels and Zemelman
discussed Reading about Reading, where we learned about enhancing students
reading and understanding in school. It’s important to know what types of texts
students can relate to, so it is important to have a wide variety of genres in
your classroom library as a teacher. We want to encourage every student to
read, no matter what subject we teach, and the best way to do that is to
provide students with a reading selection that is relevant to both the content
and the students.
Textbooks don’t always teach students the things they need
to, or are required, to learn. This is why, as educators, we need to find books
and other works that can develop students understanding of content. For
example, there is an autobiography about Einstein’s famous equation, E=MC2.
Granted, this book might be too difficult for students to read, but we need to
branch out and find readings that vary in difficulty. We also can’t assume that
everyone reads at their grade level, so it’s okay to have some books that are
harder to read, but you also need to keep in mind that some students might read
at lower grade levels.
This link refers to a book about literacy in a mathematics classroom.
(I should really get this book. It might help me understand how literacy relates to mathematics a little better.)
By creating a vast library in your classroom, you can cover
a wide range of readings. From newspapers to novels, fiction and non-fiction,
classic and contemporary, you can provide your students with a choice of what they would like to read
and not just what’s assigned. You don’t have to build this library right away.
You might not always have the funds or resources available to you. Start small
and look through what you have and have access to. Everything will grow from
there.
Personally, I thought it sounded silly to create a library
in a math classroom, but after reading this chapter, it makes a little more
sense. The authors provided us with a list of recommended books for a classroom
library, indicating which fields the books are appropriate for. I have never
really used books in a math classroom before, except a story book called The Line and the Dot. I never really
thought about what types of books could actually be useful to students in
learning math. I just assumed that my whole library would be full of logic
books and brainteasers, which is still good to have, but now I have a starting
point as to a few ideas of what to look for.
Sarah, I will also surprised to find that there were mathematical books on the suggested reading list at the end of the chapter. Reading is such an essential skill to have in life, so why not have a little of it in every content area? I think having books related to math available in your classroom will also be helpful for students who may have a hard time grasping some of the mathematical concepts that are being taught.
ReplyDeleteI think the best evidence of non-textbook literature in math that we have seen was in Sparks' class. The "where the camera was" project was taken from some form of textbook, but it was given as a packet and only had the relevant information that we needed. In my past experiences I have only used textbooks in math for the problems and answers (homework) and my teachers always prepared notes and examples for us in class. I even had some teachers that would create their own problems, homework sheets and tests, who rarely used textbooks. I don't necessarily believe that math teachers could go completley without textbooks, but articles about the mathematicians and how they developed methods would be interesting. If you could find articles where math related to real life (ex. How some architect used pythagorean theorem to construct a building) I think students would have more appreciation for math and it might make more sense to weary students.
ReplyDeleteSarah, I agree with you that it might seem strange or silly to have a library in a reading classroom but the more I think about it, the more sense it makes. I am an awful math person. I don't typically enjoy it and I tend to not be great at it. However, there have been times when I have enjoyed it and have done better than usual. One instance (you might remember this from high school!) is when we had to write narratives of how we solved problems. One was how to create a pool table of a certain geometrical size (or at least I think that's what it was, it was six years ago now!) and I got a 100 on that because I was able to sort out the math in words and use my writing skills to help demonstrate my understanding. I enjoyed writing a math "story". For students who tend to lean towards the "story" subjects, like history and English, having a library could be indispensable in their understanding and those who get the numbers just fine and generally like math but not reading could have their reading skill built up by having books on topics that interest them.
ReplyDeleteWow, I never really thought of it that way. It makes perfect sense. If students are struggling with math, then maybe I should try reaching them in a different way, through reading, that might get to them better. And like you said, for those who are good at math, having the reading available will help them expand their horizons and build their reading skills too. No one has ever put in perspective like that before.
DeleteMath has always been a difficult subject for me. I can remember many moments in elementary, middle, and high school where I just wanted to give up. The problem was never not being able to learn the information, the problem was I just was not interested. I excelled in English and History because there were stories, but math always seemed dry and dull. Adding something extra into the mix would have helped a lot, and I think it will set you apart. (Just a side note) I don't know if you had a plan for your lessons for this semester, but teaching a lesson where you had a math short story or something would be an amazing lesson and would probably be memorable for the students.
ReplyDelete