Authentic Opportunities for Writing about Math in Middle School

Book excerpt: Teach students to write about math so they can improve their conceptual understanding in authentic ways. This resource offers hands-on strategies you can use to help students in grades 6–8 discuss and articulate mathematical ideas, use correct vocabulary, and compose mathematical arguments. Part One discusses the importance of emphasizing language to make students’ thinking visible and to sharpen communication skills, while attending to precision. Part Two provides a plethora of writing prompts and activities: Visual Prompts; Compare and Contrast; The Answer Is; Topical Questions; Writing About; Journal Prompts; Poetry; Cubing and Think Dots; RAFT; Question Quilts; and Always, Sometimes, Never. Each activity is accompanied by a clear overview plus a variety of examples. Part Three offers a crosswalk of writing strategies and math topics to help you plan, as well as a sample anchor task and lesson plan to demonstrate how the strategies can be integrated. Throughout each section, you’ll also find Blackline Masters that can be downloaded for classroom use. With this book’s engaging, standards-based activities, you’ll have your middle school students communicating like fluent mathematicians in no time!