Literacy and Mathematics – Educational Leadership Critical Issues, Annotated Bibliography Example

How will integrating literacy in mathematics assist in raising student achievement for all students?
Literacy is seen as a very important thing in our lives and without its one finds it hard to be a member of a society since literacy has been integrated into many part of your curriculum. Maths on the other had has also lend itself to reading and writing. Some of the things that maths does include reading aloud, which helps in listening and concentration, story problems which have been part of maths for long involves the combination of both literacy and maths. There is also writing and maths which are inter twin as one must write while doing maths. Free writing and writing of journals are the other things that literacy and maths have done

What strategies can be used to integrate literacy in math curriculum to increase student achievement?

For the process of learning both literacy and math to be meaningful and more practical, there are several strategies that most professionals have found out to be very important. These features include but not limited to the following features:

1. The study must be based on both inquiry and reflection. It must be learner- driven and must be based on planning, improving and instruction
2. It should be collaborative and involves several member of a team and must not be teacher driven

• The process of learning must be continues, intensive and involves the use of models. There should also be sustainability and involves giving solutions to specific problems.

1. There must also be connection between the teachers and the students and must be follow ups assessments and general reflection of the work that has been done by both the teacher and the students.
2. This is because past researches have shown hat best learning takes place when there is interaction between the students and the teacher (West and Miller 1998).

There is also evidence based on researches carried out that there are teachers’ skills, beliefs, knowledge and the general understanding is very important in the process of learning and cannot be ignored both by the students and any other learner. There should therefore be teacher inquiry in order for students to learn. Classroom participation and researches should also be encourage and motivate the students to act accordingly to issues in order to eventually improve on the learning process.

What are the best practices of integrating literacy in the math curriculum in high school for English language learners?

i. Use of teaching academic vocabulary

For effective math instruction, there should be the use of vocabulary instruction. This will help not only in teaching mathematics but also helps in defining between mathematical definitions of words. This has prompted the use of these vocabularies in learning mathematics (Moschkovich, 2008).

ii. Reading and understanding written math problems

For ELL students, written mathematical problems present serious challenges to the both the students and teachers. This is because students are forced to understand the problem by reading through to determine what the question wants. The should must also identify the question to be answered and then create a numerical equation it before answering it. Those students who have a background in mathematics do not however have problems answering such questions (Bernardo, 2005).

iii. Building background knowledge

Students must have background knowledge in order to mange mathematic problems. This helps the students understand the context in which question has been asked hence most students may get lost If they don’t get the question correctly.

iv. Increasing student language production in the content area

There should be maximum student participation in order to enhance the uptake of what the students are learning hence the need to have instruction lessons that are sheltered. This helps in the learning of ELL students. Students then try it out themselves on their own through learning of various terms.

v. Using technology

Technology is seen as of the most powerful tools that are used in learning by ELL students. This could come in the form of programming and educational applications that have been developed and introduced in the learning process.

Reference

Austin, V. (2001). Teachers’ beliefs about co-teaching. Remedial and Special Education (22)4, 245-255.

Bloom, G., Castagna, C., Warren, B. (2003). More than mentors: Principal coaching. Leadership.

Costa, A. and Garmston, R. www.cognitivecoaching.com.

Dorval, K. Isaksen, S., Noller, R. (2001). Leadership for learning: Tips for effective mentoring and coaching. In K. McCluskey (ed.) Mentoring for Talent Development (pp. 1-12). South Dakota, Reclaiming Youth

Feiman-Nemser, S. and Parker, M. (1992). Mentoring in context: A comparison of two U.S. programs for beginning teachers. National Center for Research on Teacher Learning: NCRTL Special Report, pp. 1-16.

Fullan, M.G. (2001). The New Meaning of Educational Change. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. NY