Integrating Writing and Mathematics

Abstract

Teachers often find it difficult to integrate writing and mathematics while honoring the integrity of both disciplines. In this article, the authors present two levels of integration that teachers may use as a starting point. The first level, writing without revision, can be worked into mathematics instruction quickly and readily. The second level, writing with revision, may take more time but enables teachers to connect the writing process more fully with mathematics instruction. Six examples are provided, including student work, in which teachers have successfully attended to the goals of both writing and mathematics.

Program Evaluation: Integration of Educational Software into the Elementary School Math Curriculum

“…All participants believed that the math software, which is designed to meet state standards, helped students understand math concepts. Wilcox and Monroe (2011). Patterns were common among all participants' responses.…”

“…Barriers to integrating software into the math curriculum have been well-documented (Bellamy & Mativo, 2010;Chamberlin, 2010;Wilcox & Monroe, 2011).…”

Bringing Math to Life: Provide Students Opportunities to Connect their Lives to Math

“…NCTM identified mathematical communication as a targeted goal for students. (Wilcox & Monroe, 2011) "Students must learn mathematics with understanding, actively building new knowledge from experience and prior knowledge." (NCTM, 2019) They must be able to organize and communicate their mathematical thoughts, constructing knowledge by interpreting their understanding and making connections to prior knowledge and real-world experiences.…”

“…Integrating Writing and Mathematics, Wilcox and Monroe (2011) explore two different approaches, or levels, to the integration of writing and mathematics: writing with revision and writing without revision. These two levels are further reduced to six different strategies: learning logs, think-write-share, note-taking/note-making, shared writing, class books and alphabet books.…”

Program Evaluation: Integration of Educational Software into the Elementary School Math Curriculum

“…Software programs might not be integrated to support best teaching practices instruction (Ertmer & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, 2010) when teachers have (a) limited accessibility to software (Wachira & Keengwe, 2011), (b) limited experiences with the use of software (Almekhlafi & Almeqdadi, 2010), (c) inadequate professional development on software (Hartsell, Herron, Fang, & Rathod, 2009;Lagrange & Erdogan, 2009;Schonfeld, 2011), and (d) different perceptions of the use of software in the classrooms (Guzman & Nussbaum, 2009). Barriers to integrating software into the math curriculum have been well-documented (Bellamy & Mativo, 2010;Chamberlin, 2010;Wilcox & Monroe, 2011).…”