Monthly Archives: December 2014

Close Reading in Mathematics

One of the focuses for our district this year has been on close reading across subjects. As is often the case, our math department has had to figure out how to apply this ELA tool to the mathematical world. Some suggested it’s just a matter of doing word problems well, others have suggested it is helping students focus on vocabulary and still others simply don’t think it can apply to mathematics.

I continue to develop in my application of the tool but here is where I am on the journey…

First, the way our kids attack word problems has in fact changed. For a while, it was ok for students to find math words, ‘translate’ them and then solve the problem. They could look at the question being asked rewrite it and fill in the blank. However, context has become a much bigger deal for the students. The challenge for students is now to decide how much they need to understand of the problem itself and then figure out the math needed to answer the question.

Second, students have to make decisions based on their own work rather than simply move through a set series of steps to problem solving.

Third, there is a need for our students to read the problem for context, reread for the question and then read again for the information they need to answer the question and all of these require a much higher level of thinking than the students have been asked in the past.

I am in the process of developing a new set of questions and procedures for close reading with my students. I would love feedback. Here is as far as I have gotten but it needs some revision and clarity.

1. Students read the problem and look at diagrams to give a 1-2 sentence summary of what is happening in the problem, i.e. something being bought or sold, patterns beign explored, something being measured, etc.

2. Students reread the problem and identify the question(s) being asked.

3. Third reading of the problem has students looking for any detail, including units, that will help them solve each part of the problem.

4. Solve the problem and check for reasonableness.