Why Literacy in Math?
Many content area teachers are skeptical when it comes to incorporating literacy into their discipline, asking, "Isn't that for English class?" However, a glimpse into the NYS Next Generation Learning Standards shows us that literacy, in every domain, is required to become fluent in that content area.
While students are asked to explain, construct viable arguments, interpret, write, classify, compare, model, and translate in their English class, students are taught to do these things within the context of English.
While doing all of these things is similar in all disciplines, each discipline has different requirements of how to do these things. For example, constructing a viable argument in English looks quite different than in math. While both require supporting information, a math argument would draw on theorems and lemmas, where English arguments can be based on any number of sources.
Here, I have compiled just a few of the many Algebra II NYS Next Generation Math Standards and highlighted the language of literacy that appears.
Teaching our students not only to solve mathematical problems, but acknowledge why and how they are able to solve those problems, is a skill that we need to teach our students.
AII-A.REI1b. Explain each step when solving rational or radical equations as following from the equality of numbers asserted at the previous step, starting from the assumption that the original equation has a solution. Construct a viable argument to justify a solution method.
AII-A.REI2. Solve rational and radical equations in one variable, identify extraneous solutions, and explain how they arise.
AII-A.REI11. Given the equations y = f(x) and y = g(x):
i) recognize that each x-coordinate of the intersection(s) is the solution to the equation f(x) = g(x);
ii) find the solutions approximately using technology to graph the functions or make tables of values;
iii) find the solution of f(x) < g(x) or f(x) ≤ g(x) graphically; and
iv) interpret the solution in context.
AII-F.IF6. Calculate and interpret the average rate of change of a function over a specified interval.
AII-F.IF8. Write a function in different but equivalent forms to reveal and explain different properties of the function.
AII-F.IF8b. Use the properties of exponents to interpret exponential functions, and classify them as representing exponential growth or decay.
AII-F.IF9. Compare properties of two functions each represented in a different way (algebraically, graphically, numerically in tables, or by verbal descriptions).
AII-F.BF2. Write arithmetic and geometric sequences both recursively and with an explicit formula, use them to model situations, and translate between the two forms.
AII-F.LE5. Interpret the parameters in a linear or exponential function in terms of a context.
While students are asked to explain, construct viable arguments, interpret, write, classify, compare, model, and translate in their English class, students are taught to do these things within the context of English.
While doing all of these things is similar in all disciplines, each discipline has different requirements of how to do these things. For example, constructing a viable argument in English looks quite different than in math. While both require supporting information, a math argument would draw on theorems and lemmas, where English arguments can be based on any number of sources.
Here, I have compiled just a few of the many Algebra II NYS Next Generation Math Standards and highlighted the language of literacy that appears.
Teaching our students not only to solve mathematical problems, but acknowledge why and how they are able to solve those problems, is a skill that we need to teach our students.
AII-A.REI1b. Explain each step when solving rational or radical equations as following from the equality of numbers asserted at the previous step, starting from the assumption that the original equation has a solution. Construct a viable argument to justify a solution method.
AII-A.REI2. Solve rational and radical equations in one variable, identify extraneous solutions, and explain how they arise.
AII-A.REI11. Given the equations y = f(x) and y = g(x):
i) recognize that each x-coordinate of the intersection(s) is the solution to the equation f(x) = g(x);
ii) find the solutions approximately using technology to graph the functions or make tables of values;
iii) find the solution of f(x) < g(x) or f(x) ≤ g(x) graphically; and
iv) interpret the solution in context.
AII-F.IF6. Calculate and interpret the average rate of change of a function over a specified interval.
AII-F.IF8. Write a function in different but equivalent forms to reveal and explain different properties of the function.
AII-F.IF8b. Use the properties of exponents to interpret exponential functions, and classify them as representing exponential growth or decay.
AII-F.IF9. Compare properties of two functions each represented in a different way (algebraically, graphically, numerically in tables, or by verbal descriptions).
AII-F.BF2. Write arithmetic and geometric sequences both recursively and with an explicit formula, use them to model situations, and translate between the two forms.
AII-F.LE5. Interpret the parameters in a linear or exponential function in terms of a context.
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