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EQUAL | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved from dictionary.cambridge.org website: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/equal

EQUIVALENT | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved from dictionary.cambridge.org website: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/equivalent

Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2014). Speaking and Listening in Content Area Learning. The Reading Teacher, 68(1), 64–69. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1296

Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2025). Speaking and Listening in Content Area Learning. Retrieved from Reading Rockets website: https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/comprehension/articles/speaking-and-listening-content-area-learning

Inequality Definition (Illustrated Mathematics Dictionary). (n.d.). Retrieved from www.mathsisfun.com website: https://www.mathsisfun.com/definitions/inequality.html

Johnson, K. (2023). What is phonological awareness? Retrieved from www.understood.org website: https://www.understood.org/en/articles/phonological-awareness-what-it-is-and-how-it-works

Moats, L., & Tolman, C. (2025). Phonological Instruction for Older Students | Reading Rockets. Retrieved from www.readingrockets.org website: https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/phonological-and-phonemic-awareness/articles/phonological-instruction-older-students

Murray, J. (2019). W.E.B. Du Bois’ The Quest of the Silver Fleece: The Education of Black Medea. TAPA, 149(2S), S-143-S-162. https://doi.org/10.1353/apa.2019.0021

Reading Rockets. (2023). Basics: Phonics and decoding | Reading Rockets. Retrieved from www.readingrockets.org website: https://www.readingrockets.org/reading-101/reading-and-writing-basics/phonics-and-decoding

Reading Rockets. (2024). Basics: Vocabulary. Retrieved from www.readingrockets.org website: https://www.readingrockets.org/reading-101/reading-and-writing-basics/vocabulary

Resanovich, M. (2024, March 26). 4 ways to engage students with writing in math class - Teach. Learn. Grow. Retrieved from Teach. Learn. Grow. website: https://www.nwea.org/blog/2024/4-ways-to-engage-students-with-writing-in-math-class/

Scholastic Parents Staff. (n.d.). Enhancing Comprehension: Reading Skills in Middle School. Retrieved from www.scholastic.com website: https://www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/reading-resources/language-and-literacy-milestones/enhancing-comprehension-reading-skills-middle-school.html?eml=TSO%2F%2F%2F%2FTSO%2Flinkshare%2F1%2Faffiliate%2F%2F%2F&LSN_TMPLGl6mUn9YQ68-h3a5Q.FcWI5fGwVN62Rxog

Shanahan, T. (2021, December 6). Teaching Oral Reading Fluency to Older Students | Reading Rockets. Retrieved from www.readingrockets.org website: https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/shanahan-on-literacy/teaching-oral-reading-fluency-older-students

Spires, H., Kerkhoff, S. N., & Casey Medlock Paul. (2020). Read, write, inquire : disciplinary literacy in grades 6-12. New York, Ny: Teachers College Press.

Sprosty, K. (2018). “I Forgot that Quotient Meant to Divide so I Added Instead and Got the Wrong Answer”: The Link between Math Vocabulary and Problem-solving. Retrieved from https://www.otterbein.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Sprosty.pdf

Tahmaseb, R. (2018, June 29). 8 Truths About Teaching Writing to Middle Schoolers. Retrieved from Edutopia website: https://www.edutopia.org/article/8-truths-about-teaching-writing-middle-schoolers

The Importance of Developing Mathematical Vocabulary | Burford School. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.burfordschool.co.uk website: https://www.burfordschool.co.uk/the-importance-of-developing-mathematical-vocabula/

Thomas Devere Wolsey, & Lapp, D. (2017). Literacy in the disciplines : a teacher’s guide for grades 5-12. New York, Ny: Guilford Press, A Division Of Guilford Publications, Inc.

What is Phonological Awareness? (2025). Retrieved June 25, 2025, from Heggerty.org website: https://heggerty.org/blog/what-is-phonological-awareness/?srsltid=AfmBOoqsvjY2ib5JZkSUNIVzGZ-LFkQjPf8GA4GJJ62RA3vaJjsXkzDB

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Writing is the process of physically using language to document one's ideas, thoughts, and/or questions on paper.

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Writing is very present in mathematics education. Students constantly assess and solve problems mathematically, breaking down their operations on paper. Students also may be asked to identify and write vocabulary words, explanations for their work, make charts, and organize data. These all help students express their thought processes and understanding when solving math problems and helps them encode the information being taught. That is why math teachers push students to show their work on tests and assignments. It allows teachers to see the students' thinking and assess how we can further help them.

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I've been a champion of the importance of writing in math class for a long time.

My first classroom position was teaching sixth-grade science at an elementary school. I had a great curriculum with a lot of hands-on exploration of phenomena that both my students and I loved. The one thing missing, though, was a real reading and writing component. So, I created an introductory unit on science writing. It involved teaching students explicitly how to make and record detailed observations and clearly explain the rationale for their inferences. I worked with the school librarian to get access to age-appropriate science magazines and had students read and respond to articles regularly. As someone who loves to write, it made sense to me to incorporate writing into all areas of the classroom.

I brought this interest in content-area writing along when I transitioned to teaching third grade. That curriculum had plenty of opportunities to write in science and social studies. However, I noticed that beyond the typical "Explain how you solved the problem" prompts, there was very little writing in math. When I excitedly asked my new grade-level colleagues if they used math journals, they looked at me as if I had spoken to them in another language. The idea of writing in math seemed somewhere between unnecessary and ridiculous to them.

Thankfully, teachers have become much more open to writing in math class since then. NCTM's 2000 publication "Principles and standards for school mathematics" helped drive this connection by including communication as a key component of mathematics learning. NCTM framed mathematical communication as "a way of sharing ideas and clarifying understanding. Through communication, ideas become objects of reflection, refinement, discussion, and amendment. When students are challenged to communicate the results of their thinking to others orally or in writing, they learn to be clear, convincing, and precise in their use of mathematical language." Since this publication, most college-and-career ready standards have incorporated the need to communicate mathematical ideas into their math practice standards.

Why is writing in math class important?

The act of writing involves examining, organizing, reconsidering, and synthesizing one's ideas. Writing is a "knowledge transforming" process that involves both the retrieval and encoding of ideas and concepts in our memory. As stated in the NWEA stances on writing, "Writing is a cognitive, nonlinear process that serves as a tool for learning and critical thinking, stimulating the writer to think more deeply about a text, topic, or concept. In this way, writing doesn't just show thinking; it is thinking, and it is an essential practice across disciplines."

Research has demonstrated the impact of writing in furthering mathematical understanding. A 2020 meta-analysis of research on writing in the content areas of math, science, and social studies showed that writing to learn in each of these subject areas "reliably enhanced learning" with an effect size of 0.30. Another meta-analysis focused on writing specifically in math found an even greater effect size of 0.42.

Writing in math class can both uncover and potentially improve students' attitudes toward the subject. A 2014 study involving students with high math anxiety found that when students wrote expressively about their thoughts and feelings prior to an exam, the difference in performance between low and high math anxiety students was significantly reduced relative to the control group in which students did not engage in pretest expressive writing.

There's more than one write way

At a high level, there are two different ways to think about writing in the math classroom. One way is a writing-first approach, where the focus is on improving student writing, and math is a topic that is used to support this. The other approach is math-first, where writing serves as a tool for helping students learn and integrate mathematical content.

Naturally, with a writing-first approach there is more emphasis on drafting, revising, and honing writing. In a math-first approach, which will be the focus of this article, revisions are less common. While students should be taught and coached on how to articulate mathematical ideas and arguments clearly, revisions are more about recording shifts in students' thinking about the mathematical content than they are about mechanics or style.

Within the math-first approach, there are many ways to incorporate writing in math class. I'll dig into four of them here.

1. Eliciting impactful explanations

Let's start by examining the aforementioned "Explain how you solved the problem" prompts found in many teaching materials.

You are likely familiar with the tepid and uninformative responses these questions can elicit if students are not taught how to unpack their mathematical thinking. Without coaching and modeling, students are likely to simply list the series of steps they took to solve the problem, rather than explain why they chose that approach, identify challenges they encountered and decisions they made along the way, and say how they determined their answer was reasonable. Just as I had done when teaching science, I realized I needed to explicitly teach my students to explain how they approached and solved a problem. This instruction went hand in hand with developing a classroom culture where students felt comfortable explaining their thinking orally, asking and answering questions of one another, and defending their mathematical thinking.

To start, when solving a problem, I would model my own mathematical thinking on chart paper. I did this in a double journal entry style, solving part of the problem on one side of the paper and then recording my thoughts and decisions on the other side. Capturing decisions, missteps, mistakes, and course changes is a great way to model the math practices, particularly making sense and persevering in problem-solving. It is also a great way to model that the problem-solving process may not always be linear and that mistakes are normal and can lead to deeper understanding.

Writing in math class can both uncover and potentially improve students' attitudes toward the subject.

After I finished, I would allow students to ask questions about what I wrote and I would use this to add to my writing, or I would annotate what to include next time. As students started writing on their own, I would share less-than-exemplary examples that I had created, alongside high-quality student examples. First as a whole class and then later in pairs, students would highlight the differences between the pieces and we would annotate the poor examples to show how to improve them. This included sharpening mathematical vocabulary, discussing models that could support the written text, and adding details for clarity. Finally, as students gained more confidence in their writing, I would pair students who solved the same problem using different approaches. The students would read each other's explanation and then ask questions to help clarify the other student's writing. Because these were not formal writing pieces, students didn't necessarily need to rewrite their explanations; however, they at least needed to take notes of what might help make their explanations clearer next time.

The power of connecting writing and problem-solving was well summed up by the authors of "Aiming for understanding: Lessons learned about writing in mathematics": "Writing during problem-solving instruction was introduced to help us assess our students' thinking, but...we concluded that writing about problem solving and reading others' thoughts...actually helped our students develop a deeper understanding of the problem-solving process. What began as an assessment tool was now being recognized as an instructional tool. We were beginning to view writing as integral to the teaching of mathematics concepts."

2. Providing a formative foundation

Mathematical writing can be a rich vehicle for formative assessment, and it can be employed before, during, or after a lesson or unit. For example, before starting a unit on fraction addition, you might assign a 5-10 minute quick write in which students record everything they know about fractions. Reviewing the writing can give you more insight into student understanding than a quiz, which is inherently limited in terms of content included. The knowledge you uncover about your students can help you tailor interventions and small- and large-group lessons to where students are in their conceptual understanding of fractions. The process of recall leverages spaced retrieval practice, which helps with long-term retention of information. Recalling related past concepts also primes students to connect previous content to new content, a topic I'll discuss in the next section.

During the lesson, you can convert the traditional "Think, Pair, Share" activity into a "Think, Write, Pair, Share" activity. The writing can be done either on individual whiteboards or in a notebook, if you'd like to save the students' writing. Adding writing to this protocol can give students more time to process their thinking. Additionally, if the writing is recorded in a journal, later in the unit students can be asked to reread earlier entries to reflect on how their thinking has changed or deepened.

Finally, end-of-lesson quick writes where students record the three most important things they learned, identify and define key vocabulary in their words, or comment on a particular student's explanation or response can serve both as an assessment of student learning and a way for students to synthesize their new knowledge.

3. Making connections

Despite how many of us were taught it, mathematics is all about connections. Connections, along with communication, is one of NCTM's five process standards. Students at all levels should be able to recognize and "understand how mathematical ideas interconnect and build on one another to produce a coherent whole" as well as how they connect to the wider world. I discussed why making connections is so critical in "Maximum impact: 3 ways to make the most of supplemental content." Math journals and writing prompts are a great way to have students look for connections among concepts.

Varying degrees of scaffolding can be used to help students make connections. You can directly ask them to do a quick write that compares two concepts, such as multiplying whole numbers and multiplying a fraction and a whole number. Or, prior to starting a new unit, students could be asked to write down everything they know about a concept related to the upcoming unit. For example, if students are starting a unit on multiplication, you can ask them to write everything they recall about arrays. As you move through the unit, you can ask questions to explicitly help them see the connection between arrays and multiplication.

You also want to provide prompts that allow students to find their own connections between concepts. Having students create concept maps is a great way to have them show connections between concepts. Simple sentence starters or sentence frames like "Division reminds me of..." or "Volume is similar to ______ because ______. Volume is different from ______ because ______" give students the freedom to make their own connections. In their article about improving writing prompts in mathematics, authors Craig Sjoberg, David Slavit, and Terry Coon share a simple three-part prompt to help students make mathematical connections:

Explain at least one thing you learned in math this week.

How does your answer connect to other mathematical ideas?

How do these ideas connect to the real world?

4. Supporting metacognition

In addition to all the ways to have students share their mathematical understanding, I also liked to use math journals as a means of reflection. Students can be prompted to consider how they engaged with an activity or a discussion, reflecting on what helped to move their thinking along, what may have confused them, and more. This can help them understand how they learn best.

Metacognition, or the awareness and regulation of your own thought processes, is a key component to creative problem solving (as opposed to rote following of procedures). There are several ways to incorporate this type of reflection into math class:

During a lesson

If you have students take notes in class, you can teach them to engage in note-taking/note-making activities where they write the main idea on one side of the paper and their thoughts, reactions, and connections on the other side of the paper.

After a lesson

Have students respond to one of the following prompts:

Did you have any lightbulb moments during that lesson? What led to that moment?

Is there anything that is still confusing to you?

What did you know or think about this topic before today? How has your understanding changed?

How might you have presented this topic to someone else?

Did you need more time to work today? Was the activity too long or just right?

At the end of the week or at the end of the unit

Ask students to reflect on specific activities, lessons, or conversations they engaged in:

Which one was the most interesting to you?

Which one helped you understand something better? What did it help you understand better and why?

Which one changed your thinking about a mathematical idea?

Did any confuse you or leave you with new questions?

The wide world of mathematical writing

I have touched on only a few ways to think about writing in math class. Thankfully, there is an abundance of resources to help you explore a wide variety of ways to get your students writing about math. Here are just a few of them.

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4 ways to engage students with writing in math class - Teach. Learn. Grow.

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Writing in math class can both uncover and potentially improve students' attitudes toward the subject. Here are four ways to go about it.

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Comprehension refers to strengthening understanding and grasping a deeper meaning of the text through continuous questioning. "Reading becomes a powerful tool to find information, make sense of complex material, and find enjoyment in literature and popular media" (Scholastic Parents Staff, n.d.). Comprehension skills relate to making sense and thinking deeper into the material.

Scholastic Parents Staff. (n.d.). Enhancing comprehension: Reading skills in middle school. Scholastic. https://www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/reading-resources/language-and-literacy-milestones/enhancing-comprehension-reading-skills-middle-school.html

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Vocabulary is the terminology used throughout reading and writing that relate to the targeted content area. Use of effective vocabulary involves "mastering the vocabulary of different content areas" (Scholastic Parents Staff, n.d.) to use new words correctly in current reading and writing. Understanding and performing the proper use of vocabulary is what demonstrates a successful reader.

Scholastic Parents Staff. (n.d.). Enhancing comprehension: Reading skills in middle school. Scholastic. https://www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/reading-resources/language-and-literacy-milestones/enhancing-comprehension-reading-skills-middle-school.html

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Vocabulary is a vital part of mathematics education. Knowing mathematics vocabulary improves students' understanding of concepts and their ability to express their reasoning or concerns. Students' ability to express themselves freely is essential to their success in math, but when they lack the necessary vocabulary, they struggle with conveying their misunderstanding. They use filler works like "this, that, or here", which makes their speech harder to de-code for the teacher and other students. Knowing vocabulary is also proven in math to help students understand topics better and encourages them to use the strategies and processes associated with the terms. Once familiar with mathematics vocabulary, students have increased comprehension of instructions, texts, and problems due to their deeper understanding of the math terms. Additionally, they can read through math literature freely without stopping and assessing each complex/tier 3 math word they come across.

Burford School. (n.d.). The importance of developing mathematical vocabulary. The Importance of Developing Mathematical Vocabulary | Burford School. https://www.burfordschool.co.uk/the-importance-of-developing-mathematical-vocabula/

Sprosty, K. (n.d.). The link between math vocabulary and problem-solving. https://www.otterbein.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Sprosty.pdf

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To instil Application in my classroom, I can:

Post a Word Wall with vocabulary that showcases student work.

Include mathematical language in our vernacular as teachers.

Model proper use of mathematical language in different contexts.

Ask students for their input on what words mean and do not mean.

Integrate vocabulary into homework and classwork daily.

Promote understanding of words for English Language Learners by paying attention to the Stages of the Second Language Acquisition and strategizing phrases accordingly.

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"Fluency refers to the ability to read text accurately, with automaticity, and with proper expression (NICHD, 2001)" (Shanahan, 2021).

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Comprehension in the middle grades classroom does not end within the language arts curriculum, rather, it is something that must be mastered for a student to be successful in math.

Literacy exists in math and it is crucial that teachers provide students with the space to effectively learn to read with an intent for comprehension. I recall time when I was not understanding the presented word problem because I was trying to skim over content to read faster. The reality is that students "...need...to learn how and when to skim and when to study thoroughly" (Scholastic Parents Staff, n.d.) to better progress their understanding of material. Engaging in reading beyond school is the key to helping students build their comprehension skills and knowledge of how to read when in the math classroom.

Lastly, students must have comprehension skills to effectively learn mathematics due to the complex nature of mathematical tasks, especially at the middle school level. Cognitive shifts and development make middle school a challenging time, but teachers have the unique opportunity to engage with students by overlapping disciplines to promote understanding and comprehension through literacy and math discourse.

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To instill Comprehension in my classroom, I can:

Support students through guiding evaluation of content and allowing them to think "...below the surface of facts..." (Scholastic Parents Staff, n.d.) of their text.

Have students draw conclusions about finding solutions through mathematical steps and concepts.

Allow students to connect new information to other knowledge and personal experience.

Scholastic Parents Staff. (n.d.). Enhancing comprehension: Reading skills in middle school. Scholastic. https://www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/reading-resources/language-and-literacy-milestones/enhancing-comprehension-reading-skills-middle-school.html

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Phonics is the understanding of the alphabetic principle, and the idea that the letters of the written language relate to the sounds of the spoken language. These relationships between letters and sounds are organized, logical, and predictable, which allow readers to view such language with fluency. “Learning that there are predictable relationships between sounds and letters allows children to apply these relationships to both familiar and unfamiliar words" (Reading Rockets). When readers can understand sound-letter correspondence, they can decode such printed words into speech. Phonics targets learners to become fluid readers.

Reading Rockets. Phonics and decoding. Reading 101. https://www.readingrockets.org/reading-101/reading-and-writing-basics/phonics-and-decoding

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Phonics is used in daily instruction through all disciplines, including Middle-Grades Mathematics. Comprehension of vocabulary, and numerical terminology/symbols is part of learning mathematically.

Phonics instruction can be systematic and explicit. Systematic phonics is taught in a sequence that is organized and logical. In a math class, systematic phonics is demonstrated when building one skill based off another. This includes the use of models, language, and structured instruction. An instructor may use systematic phonics in their lesson by planning to “Group basic facts and emphasize simple patterning to learn addition and multiplication facts” (Murray, 2019).

Explicit phonics instruction provides teachers with precise directions for teaching. Mathematically, explicit phonics is demonstrated through verbalizing steps through modeling and communicating with students. An instructor may task their students to write down their thoughts and discuss as a class, or with individual feedback. Focusing on such systematic and explicit phonics instruction significantly improves children’s recognition and comprehension of reading. Students develop the ability to understand mathematical concepts through phonics (Reading Rockets).

Murray, J. (2019). 'W.E.B. Du Bois' The Quest of the Silver Fleece: The Education of Black Medea. TAPA (Society for Classical Studies). https://doi.org/10.1353/apa.2019.0021. Retrieved from ProQuest database.

Reading Rockets. Phonics and decoding. Reading 101. https://www.readingrockets.org/reading-101/reading-and-writing-basics/phonics-and-decoding

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The assumption that fluency is strictly seen as a language art standard is false and should be dismantled through the new generation of teachers. As new teachers enter the field, it is imperative that they introduce checks for fluency across all disciplines including mathematics.

As a math teacher, we have the unique opportunity to promote literacy through conversation, word problems, and analysis of graphs and symbols. These literary tasks must be taught to students and reinforced through conversation and thoughtful practice. I recall my own math classes where teachers would have a student read the word problem aloud to the class. This method helps check for student fluency while also promoting independence, engagement, and spoken discussion in the classroom. By having students read content aloud to their peers, either in whole-group discussion, or in smaller student groups, the teacher can connect literacy to the math content in an effective manner that promotes fluency practice and reading engagement beyond a language arts course.

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Phonological Awareness is the ability to identify and manipulate the sounds and structures of words. Students can do this through rhyming, breaking down words into syllables, sound matching, blending words, replacing/rearranging different sounds in words, etc.

Phonological Awareness is often compared to Phonemic Awareness, which is the ability of students to recognize that words are made up of individual sounds. This is usually a skill listed under the umbrella term of Phonological Awareness. These skills help students de-code and explore new words when reading and learning new material, steering them away from solely relying on memorization.

What is phonological awareness?. Heggerty. (n.d.). https://heggerty.org/blog/what-is-phonological-awareness/?srsltid=AfmBOoqsvjY2ib5JZkSUNIVzGZ-LFkQjPf8GA4GJJ62RA3vaJjsXkzDB

Kelli Johnson, M. (n.d.). What is phonological awareness?. Understood. https://www.understood.org/en/articles/phonological-awareness-what-it-is-and-how-it-works

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Students demonstrate Phonological Awareness in Math by deconstructing words to help them understand their meanings. To do this, students must know that words can be added to, taken away from, replaced, and rearranged. In math, many vocabulary words recycle a root word but add different prefixes or suffixes to change their context. Having a student break down these words and identify the root word will help them make the necessary connections to fully understand the context of their vocabulary word.

For example, Equal is one of the first and vital mathematics education vocabulary words students learn. Many vocabulary words use Equal in different variations as their root word-

Equation - "a mathematical statement in which you show that two amounts are equal using mathematical symbols-"

Equivalent- "having the same amount, value, purpose, qualities, etc."

Inequality- "An inequality compares two values, showing if one is less than, greater than, or simply not equal to another value."

The root word Equal (Definition: 'The same in amount, number, or size.') keys students into the definitions of these new words. The prefixes and suffixes provide new context to the root word at hand. It is vital to a student's understanding that they can deconstruct these words and identify those key roots to help them fully grasp the meaning of new words.

Equal | English meaning - cambridge dictionary. (n.d.-b). https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/equal

Equivalent | English meaning - cambridge dictionary. (n.d. d).https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/equivalent

Inequality. Math is Fun. (n.d.). https://www.mathsisfun.com/definitions/inequality.html

Equation | english meaning - cambridge dictionary. (n.d.-c). https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/equation

What is phonological awareness?. Heggerty. (n.d.). https://heggerty.org/blog/what-is-phonological-awareness/?srsltid=AfmBOoqsvjY2ib5JZkSUNIVzGZ-LFkQjPf8GA4GJJ62RA3vaJjsXkzDB

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To instill these Phonological Awareness skills in my classroom, I can:

Assist my vocal explanations of vocabulary words with written breakdowns.

Repeat essential vocabulary words in my everyday speech.

Have students verbally repeat vocabulary words to their partners while learning new material.

Underline, highlight, and circle reoccurring root words/ word segments to help my students make connections between words.

By: Louisa Moats, & About the Author Dr. Louisa Moats is a nationally recognized authority on how children learn to read and why some struggle to learn. Widely acclaimed as a researcher. (n.d.). Phonological instruction for older students. Reading Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/phonological-and-phonemic-awareness/articles/phonological-instruction-older-students#:~:text=The%20phonological%20awareness,before%20reading%2C%20spelling%2C%20or%20vocabulary

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To instill Fluency in my classroom,

I can:

Ask students to read a given problem aloud to the class.

Provide students with the opportunity to read instructions aloud to their peers, then explain it in their own words, to ensure understanding and collaboration.

Use examples from the language arts course so that students are getting information in two classes throughout the day.

Hold group discussions where students directly reference provided problems by reading them aloud before asking the question.

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As in any class, teachers and students must communicate through intentional conversations using oral language. It is not enough for a teacher to expect students to know what to do without some form of verbal instruction. In fact, Fisher & Frey (2014) state, "A day should not go by in which students silently try to learn content." Students need space to practice speaking and in the mathematics classroom, oral language is as important as ever to help students learn discipline-specific vocabulary and teamwork in the classroom space. Math builds on itself and if students are not constantly exposed to spoken examples through proper vocabulary, they will not be successful at completing mathematical tasks because they won't understand how the definitions of the words relate to the process at hand. For example, when students are exposed to words that have different meanings in different contexts, that is, "...cognates..." such as "...difference..." (Wolsey & Lapp, 2024), they might not understand what the word means by simply reading it, especially in a mathematical setting. By conversing with students, speaking and having them listen and ask questions, the mathematical definition of "...difference..." can be made more clear and can help students understand the problem at hand (Wolsey & Lapp, 2024). Oral Language yields deeper communication and can help clarify misconceptions in the mathematics classroom through understanding, collaboration, and discussion.

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To instill Oral Language in my classroom,

I can:

Hold group "Circle Time" discussions aimed at promoting teamwork and speech in a risk-free manner.

Talk about vocabulary in an academic sense, so that students are aware of the expectations of language in the class through my modeling.

Provide English Language Learners with support through the use of simple language and through technology, such as a translator, so that they are included in the Oral Language discourse.

Provide non-verbal ESE students with tools to communicate such as an online device, or through Sign Language.

"...dedicate time every day for students to engage in collaborative conversations in which they use academic language with their peers" (Fisher & Frey, 2014) - Think, Pair, Share, Exit Tickets, and Partner Work.

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To instill Phonics in my classroom, I can:

Implement the use of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division books (Murray, 2019).

Drill material, review content, and use repetitive exercises in the classroom (Murray, 2019).

Incorporate the use of number charts in lessons (Murray, 2019).

Challenge extension activities, including worksheets with relating words, sentences, and stories (Reading Rockets).

Use of scaffolding techniques in the classroom such as physical motion to target student understanding and help them remember concepts/meaning of mathematical terminology (Reading Rockets).

Murray, J. (2019). 'W.E.B. Du Bois' The Quest of the Silver Fleece: The Education of Black Medea. TAPA (Society for Classical Studies). https://doi.org/10.1353/apa.2019.0021. Retrieved from ProQuest database.

Reading Rockets. Phonics and decoding. Reading 101. https://www.readingrockets.org/reading-101/reading-and-writing-basics/phonics-and-decoding

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To instill writing in my classroom, I can:

Allow students to brainstorm their own ideas that connect with the targeted content.

Encourage the ability to use various styles of writing. "A great way to help students develop their writing voices is to let them imitate others" (Tahmaseb, 2018).

Task students to use their own words to explain a concept or understanding.

Task students to connect content to a real-world example. Students may write their own connections, or create their own problem.

Draw student attention to "How?" and "Why?" within their area of learning. Allow students to write answers to these for themselves, or write as if they are creating an explanation for a peer.

Edutopia. 8 truths about teaching writing to middle schoolers. George Lucas Educational Foundation. Retrieved June 25, 2025, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/8-truths-about-teaching-writing-middle-schoolers