Does the Use of Reading Strategies in Secondary Math Classes Help Increase Student Achievement - Assignment Example

You’re Name Professor Course 10 April 2006 Does the use of reading strategies in secondary math classes help increase student achievement? Most people think of creativity as the ability to express new ideas either visually or in writing. But mathematics must also be considered a creative endeavor. "The abstract science of mathematics is one of the most original creations of the human mind . . . dealing as it does with the abstraction of things divorced from any specific physical sensations or feelings" (Aiken 251-55). In schools, a student's ability to manipulate the language of mathematics signifies a definite creative achievement. Too often, however, such manipulation is accomplished only by those who have a propensity for mathematical thought. Other students frequently see math as a necessary evil. This article addresses the problems of those students for whom math is a difficult, sometimes impenetrable, subject. Their situation is far from hopeless. Steps can certainly be taken to improve student comprehension by teaching students to read the language of mathematics. Without such instruction, many students will be lost in a sea of notation and symbols. One of the most common complaints about mathematics is that it is too difficult to read. Indeed, numerous concepts are often squeezed into very compact notation and symbols. That is why reading instruction should be included in mathematics classes. Students cannot be expected to think mathematically unless they can read the material. Brennan said that "reading mathematics is a meaningful interpretation of printed symbols/pictures and of the arrangement of symbols in charts, graphs, and tables" (Brenna, 70-72). Therefore, to read math, students must learn to integrate basic reading skills and computational skills, a process that can be quite complicated. Brennan has identified three reasons why students sometimes have difficulty with this integration process. First, mathematical materials for a particular grade may require higher reading skills than the average child has. Second, instruction in reading mathematics is not sufficient in most cases. Finally, reading skills are not taught in a way that allows transference of these skills to specific content areas such as mathematics (Dolgin 59-69). Secondary students, furthermore, must integrate the traditional language code of English with specific mathematical concepts communicated symbolically. Also, as a student progresses, the curriculum becomes more subject-centered, and print information becomes the primary method of communicating ideas to the students (Dolgin 59-69). If students have difficulty adjusting to a specialized curriculum because they cannot read the material analytically, they won't learn. The conceptual density of mathematics materials is one of the major reasons for students' difficulties. Schell (Reehm & Long 35-41) maintains that mathematics texts can contain more concepts per line, sentence, and paragraph than any other kind of texts. According to Holliday (2003), a high school chemistry text can include 3,000 new vocabulary terms--more than students are expected to learn in secondary math classes. In addition, reading mathematics requires special reading skills--skills that students may not have used in other content areas. For example, in addition to comprehending text passages, students must be able decode and comprehend scores of scientific and mathematical signs, symbols, and graphics. Students also need to read and interpret information presented in unfamiliar ways--not only left to right, but also right to left (number lines), top to bottom (tables), and even diagonally (graphs). Further, students must learn how to read text that is organized differently than that in other core subjects. Given these challenges, teachers aim to utilize the help of reading strategies in secondary math classes in order to increase student achievement. It enables students to become more successful at reading and learning from these texts. To begin, teachers can incorporate reading and learning strategies that help students activate prior content knowledge, master vocabulary, and make sense of unfamiliar text styles. Because mathematics is so much more concisely written than narrative or expository prose, students find it hard to read it even if they have the basic reading skills. Unfamiliar vocabulary and complicated syntax, for example, make problem solving difficult (Aiken 251-55). Charts, diagrams, functions and ratios, and number languages different from the decimal system (such as the binary system) are also areas where students need considerable help. How do math teachers react to the issue of reading instruction? Such an issue should be of primary concern to them, because a student's inability to read the content will inevitably cause frustration for the teacher. Unfortunately, teachers assume that students bring (or should bring) reading skills from elementary reading programs to class. That is not always true (Dolgin 59-69). Therefore, it is essential that reading instruction be included in the mathematics class. Furthermore, many math teachers see a lack of mathematics intelligence--rather than reading comprehension difficulties--as the reason for student failure. "Math teachers have assumed that low intelligence was the main reason for a student's lack of success and have overlooked the importance of reading ability and mathematical achievement" (Dolgin 59-69). This point of view fails to assign any responsibility to the teacher. Math teachers themselves must understand the reading process and be able to convey that process to their students (Brennan 70-72; Dolgin 59-69). Because secondary math is so mathematics course book oriented, it is particularly crucial that teachers at that level recognize their responsibility to help students with their reading. Math teachers know best the nature of the materials and the concise style of writing. They are most competent to teach word meanings related to general language usage, such as the technical vocabulary of math and symbols, that are associated with concept development (Dolgin 59-69). Math teachers must help students to read the material. One approach to improving students' mathematics course book comprehension is a high school course entitled Thinking Skills, developed by McGeehon (676-79). For the first six weeks of the school year, students' thinking skills are developed through the use of comparison-contrast problems. Then reading skills are emphasized, using filmstrips, worksheets, and games to review and extend students' skills. Finally, students transfer their skills to mathematics course books by recognizing that text authors do organize their writing to include main ideas, supporting details, and content clues. Unfortunately, not every school has access to mathematical reading programs, so alternatives should be considered. Whether or not a teacher has a formal plan, he or she can improve comprehension by carefully considering how new concepts are introduced. Each new concept needs to be broken down so that it is accessible to the student. For example, when introducing the concept of adding and subtracting fractions, the teacher first shows how to identify fractions and their component parts (i.e., numerator and denominator), then how to find the common denominator between two or more fractions, and finally how to add and subtract them. Thelen (544-49) outlines in a general way the steps that teachers should follow when introducing a particular concept: develop the concept hierarchically, define its attributes, ask students for examples of the concept, and provide examples they might not think of. Math teachers should be especially mindful of an area that tends to be difficult for many students: word problems. These problems require a student to identify relevant details and perceive relationships between the concepts, which are often hidden within the language. A reading guide--a set of statements involving literal, interpretive, and critical levels of comprehension to which students respond as they read--is one way to help students with word problems (Riley and Pachtman 531-34). Using this guide as an initial approach to word problems helps generate a mental framework for solving these problems in the future. Studies have focused a lot on enhancing student’s mathematics grade by the enhanced usage of reading comprehension. The Directed Reading Method is another approach to word problems. It requires the student to read the problem slowly, reread to determine what is being asked, estimate the answer, then compute it according to the appropriate process (Riley and Pachtman 531-34). Obviously, this method would be insufficient for students having serious difficulty with word problems, as it involves more independent student analysis than the reading guide method. For many, however, it is a fruitful approach. Teachers have at their disposal a variety of materials in addition to the text to teach reading. The Thinking Skills curriculum includes use of analogies of antonyms and synonyms, as well as filmstrips, tapes, worksheets, and games, to develop thinking skills (McGeehon 676-79). Cassidy and Sharkey recommended Math Symbol Bingo to enhance word/symbol recognition, as well as the game Roll-A-Sentence, which gives students practice in understanding and constructing mathematical sentences (50-54). Games like this both break the monotony for students who don't care for mathematics and simultaneously drill them in necessary skills. In addition, short detective stories can help students with word problems if used on a regular basis. These stories are used widely by teachers who believe in reading instruction in the mathematics class. They create student interest and offer practice in analytical thinking by requiring students to separate relevant from irrelevant details in order to solve a crime (Crouse and Bassett 598-600). Early childhood educators often talk of the “whole child” because children do not learn best when subjects are divided into separate “cubbyholes.” So it's not surprising that learning mathematics also helps children learn to read. The two “literacies” are closely related. Think about the mathematics in “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”. There are three bears! In addition, the bears and their possessions are repeatedly put in order by size (chairs, beds) and other characteristics (temperature!). Children need to understand the vocabulary from “middle-size” to “three” and to understand the relationships. One relationship is “larger than”; another is that the orderings correspond—the littlest chair for the baby bear, the middle-size chair for the mama bear, and so on. It appears that once students were given a general reading strategy designed for mathematical texts, they were more able to read and comprehend sample problem solutions from the mathematics course book. Although students in the experimental group started out completing no more assignments than usual, a steady increase was apparent during the last three weeks of the treatment phase of the investigation. That could be partially attributed to the idea that students needed time to acclimate to the new reading strategy. Though no qualitative data were formally collected, students in the treatment group verbally reported an increased awareness and understanding of how and why mathematics course books were written in such a formal, proof-based format. Additionally, more than half of the students said they valued the mathematics course book reading strategy as being generally helpful in reading the sample problems. A detailed examination of the data from an individual standpoint did show that not all of the students in the treatment group benefited from the reading instruction. Three of the students in the treatment group experienced difficulty in using the reading strategy outside of class when the instructor was not available to answer questions. Those students actually turned in fewer assignments during the treatment phase of the investigation than during the four weeks before that phase began. Although this study suggests that teaching reading strategies for mathematics may improve students' ability to successfully complete process-oriented mathematics course book problems, it in no way indicates that students in the study engaged in any sort of self-analysis related to their reading patterns. Specifically, students seemed to use the reading strategy as a blueprint for decoding the types of problems seen in the one chapter of their mathematics course book. A similar study of greater magnitude may give insight into how effective a general reading strategy would be if used for a different mathematics course book and over a longer period of time. Also, more detailed observations into student reading patterns related to mathematics may produce a more effective and specific set of strategies. There is also a pattern that weaves through the story; for example, too little, too big, just right. Understanding that pattern helps children gain a sense of the story narrative and use similar patterns to create their own stories. Classification or conditionals (If it is raining, then educators should take an umbrella), which are the foundations of basic mathematical logic, also appear in some stories. And there are patterns of letters and the rhythmic pattern of syllables in words, which are just as much mathematical as language literacy. It is no wonder, then, that research shows that early mathematics experiences result in later improvements in language and literacy, as well as general intelligence. For all these reasons, educators need to connect language literacy and mathematics literacy. Concern by teachers over the utility of mathematics course books as a teaching tool appears to be two dimensional. Some teachers claim that mathematics mathematics course books are devoting more space to practice problems than ever before and that process explanations have become fewer and shorter in recent years. Others argue that the problem is not inadequate description or detail but rather students' lack of specific skills and strategies to decode written mathematical solutions. Traditionally, high school classes have not required students to learn mathematics through any formal written protocol. Instead, they rely largely on process modeling by teachers and peers. That becomes an especially critical issue in those cases where teachers report relying heavily on mathematics course book-based instruction but rarely teach students how to decipher common mathematics course book formats and patterns in sample problem solutions or formally presented proofs (Bush 558-56). Mathematics is woven into the fabric of the world. When parents help their children see mathematics in their surroundings, parents are helping them learn to reason and communicate in many ways throughout their day. This applies to the youngest children—and to all children. According to Aiken, "Instruction in mathematics should emphasize reading carefully and analytically in order to understand meanings, thinking about what is being read, and then translating and formulating English symbols into the special symbols of mathematics." (Aiken 251-55) Children need to think and talk about their activities for math to emerge. If educators are to help all students develop solid math skills, they need to provide more reading instruction in the secondary math classes. Works Cited Aiken, L. R., Jr. 2001. Mathematics as a creative language. Arithmetic Teacher (March): 251-55. Brennan, A. 2002. What are the prime factors of reading mathematics? Reading Improvement (Summer): 152-59. Bush, W. S. 2003. Mathematics mathematics course books in teacher education. School Science and Mathematics 87 (3): 558-56. Cassidy, J. 2001. Project C.A.R.E. Teacher (January): 70-72. Cassidy, J., and V. Sharkey. 2001. 'Rithmetic reading. Teacher (January): 50-54. Crouse, R., and D. Bassett. 2003. Detective stories: An aid for mathematics and reading. Mathematics Teacher (November): 598-600. Dolgin, A. B. Improvement of mathematical learning through reading instruction. High School Journal (November): 59-69. Holliday, W. G. (2003). Helping students learn effectively from science text. In C. M. Santa & D. E. Alvermann (Eds.), Science learning: Processes and applications (pp. 38-47). Newark, DE: International Reading Association. McGeehon, M. 2004. Strategies for improving mathematics course book comprehension. Journal of Reading (April): 676-79. Reehm, S. P., & Long, S. A. (2001). Reading in the mathematics classroom. Middle School Journal, 27(5), 35-41 Riley, J. D., and A. B. Pachtman. 2003. Reading mathematical word problems: Telling them what to do is not telling them how to do it. Journal of Reading (March): 531-34. Thelen, J. 2004. Preparing students for content reading assignments. Journal of Reading (March): 544-49. Read More