Digital Promise Signature Workspace
Digital Strategies for Teaching the Language of Math
This workspace highlights ways in which research-based strategies and resources can be used to support math learners in a digital setting, especially in the shift to learning at home and remotely.
Strategies to support math academic language
Math 3-6
A word wall helps build the Math Communication and vocabulary skills that are necessary for problem solving.
Math 3-6
Sentence frames or stems can serve as language support to enrich students' participation in academic discussions.
Math 3-6
Instruction in multiple formats allows students to activate different cognitive skills to understand and remember the steps they are to take in their math work.
Math 3-6
Attributing results to controllable aspects (strategy and effort) fosters students' beliefs in self.
Math 3-6
Knowing the language of math is critical because students must use this language to understand math concepts and determine calculations needed.
Math 3-6
When students create their own number and word problems, they connect math concepts to their background knowledge and lived experiences.
Math 3-6
Visual representations help students understand what a number represents as well as recognize relationships between numbers.
Math 3-6
When students explain their thinking process aloud with guidance in response to questions or prompts, they recognize the strategies they use and solidify their understanding.
Math 3-6
Analyzing incorrect worked examples is especially beneficial for helping students develop a conceptual understanding of mathematical processes.
Math 3-6
Providing students a voice in their learning is critical for making learning meaningful.
Math 3-6
When teachers connect math to the students' world, students see how math is relevant and applicable to their daily lives.
Math 3-6
Writing that encourages students to articulate their understanding of math concepts or explain math ideas helps deepen students' mathematical understanding.
learner factors related to math academic language
Language and literacy skills support many aspects of math problem solving.
Geometric Reasoning involves using abstract thinking to define, analyze, and make arguments about shapes and spatial relationships.
Algebraic Thinking is the ability to generalize, represent, justify, and reason with abstract mathematical structures and relationships.
Working Memory, a component of executive functioning, allows a person to temporarily hold and manipulate information to apply in other processes.
Reasoning is the ability to think abstractly, draw inferences, identify patterns and relationships, and apply logic in order to flexibly solve novel problems.
Math Mindset includes learners' self-concept and self-efficacy beliefs as well as their mindset toward failure, all of which shape their willingness to get involved with mathematics.
A student's Math Learning Environment encompasses the opportunities provided by their home, school, and community that contribute to their development of math knowledge and skills.
