Just Do It

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Just Do ItWriting in the Mathematics Classroom

• NCTM
• Building Mathematical Communities
• April 11, 2003

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• Handouts log onto
• ted.coe.wayne.edu/faculty/babcock.html
• Activity Sheets
• Getting started
• Writing in Middle School

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• give students titles for their papers and open
  ended prompts that they can use to begin their
  writing.
• Writing to Learn Mathematics
• Joan Countryman

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Reluctant writers

• Explain
• What did you think about or do first?
• What did you do right after that?
• How do you know your answer is reasonable?
• Does this remind you of any other mathematical
  investigations that you have done before?
• So You Have To Teach Math? by Marilyn Burns

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• POISON
• Explain your strategy.
• Is it a winning strategy?
• Explain how you know?
• Prove why your strategy works.

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• Smart
• How do you feel about what happened to the boy
  in the poem?
• Do you agree or disagree with how he traded for
  more money? Why or why not.

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• Smart
• Convince the boy that sometimes more is not
  always better? Or is it? Give examples to support
  your thinking.
• Create a poem/story about how the boy could
  trade so that he would end up with more money.

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• Types of Writing Assignments
• Writing about their thinking process
• Keeping journals/logs
• Solving math problems
• Explain mathematical ideas
• Creative writing (free write)

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• Opportunities for Writing
• Journal Writing
• Informal
• Non-threatening
• Not evaluated on content
• Personal
• Statement of feelings and opinions

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• Write a
• mathography
• Writing to Learn Mathematics
• Joan Countryman

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• Reflect on the writing activity
• WHAT DO YOU THINK I know about this students
  understanding of ?
• What would I want to ask the student if she/he
  were here?
• What gaps or misunderstanding do I see in the
  work?

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• Reflect on the writing activity
• Are the gaps a result of difficulty with written
  response?
• What standards and/or benchmarks are indented to
  be addressed through this activity? Does the
  activity address those standards?

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Creative Writing

• Compose a song, rap, tall tale..
• Boast about everything you know about fractions.
• Write a tall tale explaining how natural numbers
  become radical.
• 500 Writing Formats by Margaret McIntosh
  mcintosh_at_pogonip.scs.unr.edu

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• Peer Evaluation
• After giving an assignment ask students to change
  papers and have them to respond to Do you agree
  or disagree with the answer?

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• What is a Rubric?
• A rubric is a set of criteria used to evaluate
  student responses to an open-ended task.
• Teaching Math THE WRITE WAY Writing in
  Mathematics

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• Why use a Rubric?
• Rubrics provide consistent standards for
  evaluating student work.
• Teaching Math THE WRITE WAY Writing in
  Mathematics

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Two-Point Sort

• You Rock!
• The response contains evidence that the student
  has developed enough mathematical power to tackle
  the task effectively given a little time and
  feedback it may also contain errors and
  omissions.

• Almost there!
• The response lacks evidence of enough
  mathematical reasoning, mathematical ideas,
  techniques, problem solving strategies, and
  communication to effectively accomplish the task.

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Three-Point Sort
Exemplary Response is complete. It communicates a clear understanding of the most significant mathematical ideas. The response may include an appropriate diagram, chart and/or picture. Some understanding shown Response starts off appropriately. The explanation or supporting visual communication may be unclear or may contain incomplete or missing components. The student may make a major computational error or use an inappropriate strategy. Needs support Shows little or no understanding of the significant mathematical ideas needed to respond effectively. The student may copy parts of the problem without attempting to solve it.
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• Questions
• elsiebabcock_at_wayne.edu