The Adolescent Literacy KnowledgeBase

This KnowledgeBase archive includes content and external links that were accurate and relevant as of September 30, 2019.

The Writing Successful Grants KnowledgeBase is an online resource aiding education professionals in their pursuit of public and private grants to support local programs. Its five elements contain information and resources that assist the grant seeker with developing their project, writing the grant proposal and managing the grant upon its award.

Task 4: Integrate with Mathematics

Guideline: Literacy plays an important part in learning mathematics; however, math applications may not be as obvious as other content areas due to the sparseness of connected text and the procedural nature of the content area. Though such applications may be lacking, fourth and fifth grade teachers should be aware of how vocabulary is critical to understanding and reading symbols, while charts, graphics, and comprehension are important to conceptual understanding. Possessing such awareness enables fourth and fifth grade teachers to enhance instructional strategies in mathematics.

Resources

TOOLS

Adolescent Literacy Toolkit

This link to the Council of Chief State School Officers' Adolescent Literacy Toolkit provides resources for states and high school content area teachers.

Comprehension Strategies

This page at AdLit.org contains a library of comprehension strategies teachers can use in the classroom before, during, and after reading a text.

Mathematics Bookshelf

From the Ohio Resource Center, "The Mathematics Bookshelf features outstanding trade books that support mathematics instruction in K-12 classrooms. Mathematics Review Board members have selected books that will appeal to students and enrich the teaching and learning of mathematics."

References

A Maths Dictionary for Kids

As noted at its website, this is "an animated, interactive dictionary for students which explains over 600 common mathematical terms in simple language."

Bringing Literacy Strategies into Content Instruction

As noted in its introduction, this Center on Instruction document "provides research-based guidance on academic literacy instruction in the content areas." The vignettes offered provide examples of how literacy instruction can be integrated into content area instruction.

Integrating Writing into the Mathematics Classroom

This link is to a Teaching Today website exploring how to integrate writing in the mathematics classroom.

Learning Mathematics Vocabulary: Potential Pitfalls and Instructional Strategies

This link is to an abstract of an article published in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' (NCTM's) Mathematics Teacher publication. As noted in its abstract, "This article focuses on vocabulary as one aspect of language that is necessary for overall mathematics achievement. Potential vocabulary problems are identified, and instructional strategies to promote vocabulary development are provided." Access to the article is limited to NCTM members. Non-subcribers may purchase the article from NCTM.

Math Songs: Teaching Math Facts & Concepts

This website provides links to songs for teaching math that are available for purchase on a CD or as a music download.

Reading and Understanding Written Math Problems

This article at AdLit.org offers strategies for helping students learn key terminology before attempting to solve mathematical word problems.

Using Mnemonic Instruction To Teach Math

This article at AdLit.org offers "three types of mnemonic strategies that can be used effectively in teaching math facts, order of operations, measurement, geometry, problem-solving techniques, and other areas of math."