Teaching Strategies
Partner – Group – Whole Class Discussion
Incorporating cultural differences improves engagement and learning for not only the students of the color but for all students. North emphasizes that learning styles are different for different groups (9). She further states that traditional mathematical pedagogies of the teacher lecturing while students take notes and student working independently may be a good fit when individualism is stressed. However, many of our students come from cultures where community plays a prominent role and the collective need of the community is valued more than individual needs. They are from an environment all members work together to solve problems; everyone is expected to be part of the solution. Through her research, North found these students may learn better in collaborative learning settings. Another cultural difference is in communication. European culture is “often very direct, avoids elaborations, has linear and logical flow” (10). Other cultures are less direct and much more elaborate - very much like telling a story. Numerous back and forth exchanges between the listeners and the speakers are expected and valued. Therefore, I will provide frequent opportunities for students to participate orally in the classroom. Partner work and group work followed by a whole class discussion is beneficial not only for the students from other countries, but also for students raised in the United States. Partner work and group work will be structured to hold students accountable and give equal voice to all students. Sentence frames will be used to support students to express their thinking more clearly in written and oral responses.
Multiple Readings of the Problem
To ensure everyone understands all the layers in word problem, students read multiple times with different purpose for each time they read before solving the problem. Students read the word problem the first time with the intent to understand the situation without worrying about specific numbers. The goal of the first reading is to comprehend the text. Students need to have a total clarification of what is being described in the situation before trying to understand the relationship between the quantities. This is especially important for the English learners. Students read the situation the second time with the goal of analyzing the language used to present the mathematical structure and create models of the given information. In other words, students read the problem again with the focus on the quantities and the relationship between the quantities so that they can map out and organize data. Students read the situation the final time with focus on the question(s) being asked. After students fully understand the situation, and have organized the data including the quantities and units, they can focus on the question being asked. They can use the information to solve the problem.
Word problems
Teaching the concepts of simplifying expressions using number properties, understanding the roles of variables, translating words into symbolic language, and solving algebraic equations under the umbrella of word problems gives students one storyline to follow. This method shows how all the concepts are related and provides reasons for learning these skills. Many of my students have a “global orientation for learning” (11), which means they learn better when they can understand how all the parts are related and used to solve problems.
Writing Word Problems
In the beginning of the unit, more elaborate word problems are written to tell a story so that students can see themselves in them. A student shared that “because the instruction used life situations that she saw on the daily basis at home, she paid attention to what was going on in class, and therefore she learned more and understood mathematics better” (12).
Word Problem Sets
Problem sets follow a deliberate progression with careful consideration for the complexity of the problems, computational challenge posed in the problems, and exposure to different problem types. See Classroom Activities section for sample problem sets.
One Problem at a Time
At the beginning of the lesson, I will present word problems one at a time. Students have a paper with only one problem so that they are fully engaged in the discussion. The lesson focuses on making connections, explaining their thinking, explaining other student’s thinking, and being part of the learning community. Also if there is more than one problem, some students are likely to disengage with the discussion for several reasons. Some students may feel they already know the answer to the problem so why engage in the discussions. Others may get anxious about finishing other problems and their anxiety may interfere with full engagement.
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