Reading Ratios

So I've been talking about Content Literacy for the past month or so and trying to wrap my head around what it means specifically in the setting of a math class. Then, in the book* that we are using as a textbook in my content literacy class, I was introduced to the idea of "text sets". Tovani defines a text set as "a container organized by units of study". She got the idea from elementary school libraries and classrooms around the country where books are organized by topics and authors and genres. Now how do we take that idea and transfer it to a middle or high school classroom? And more specifically, a math classroom?

I've been exploring this idea over the past week and coming up with new ideas. After all, what does text even look like in a math class? Part of the point of these text sets are to help students at all different levels to gain the same understanding of the same content in a different way. It can be with readings of different levels of difficulty or, in my case, problems that range from easy (to some students) to extremely difficult. Here is an example that I have compiled of a text set to help students understand ratios.

The Math Dude - The Golden Ratio:
I mentioned The Math Dude in a recent blog post and here he is again! This is a video and blog post on this thing called The Golden Ratio and how many photographers use it to take more interesting pictures. This text and video could be used to help students find some interest and usefulness in ratios. Text sets don't have to contain only boring reading materials. This is an example of that.

Dan Meyer - My Ultimate Nerd Math Crush - Genius lesson plans:
I cannot tell y'all how much I love this man and think he is wonderful. I had the amazing opportunity to hear him speak last semester and the way that he went about teaching a group of math teachers with a simple but very real world problem blew my mind. If I had had him as a math teacher, who knows where I'd be know? Probably conquering the world... I digress. This link provides a few of his videos, worksheets, and full lesson plans on how to work with students on ratios. This is another way that kids can get practice doing word problems and making sense of ratios.

Sometimes Funny Things Help Students Understand Better:
This video is horribly cheesy, but I found myself chuckling, so maybe awkward middle school students will too? It tells the story of a girl going on multiple dates and each guy speaks a different number of words. One guy talks too much compared to her. Another doesn't speak much at all. Finally she finds a guy who talks the exact same amount as she does and boom! It's love. (Don't we all wish it was that easy.) It also talks about equivalent ratios and equivalent fractions which, I believe, can help students in their understanding of this topic.

Extra Practice:
This is a link to worksheets and extra problems that students can use to practice their understanding of ratios. There are different levels of difficulty that can be used to help students. Maybe after watching some of these videos or learning different ways to go about solving the same problem, they can practice what they've learned.

Notes - Different Ways To Think About the Same Problem:
Teachers have to understand how to do a problem in 12 different ways so that they can teach 12 different students to understand how to do it in their own way. In the text set, I've included some notes that I've taken of different ways to look at the same problem. Sometimes there is not enough time to teach 12 different ways during class, so this is an opportunity to help students take learning into their own hands and still succeed.

This concept is still a little bit foreign to me so join me as I grow in my understanding of text sets. If you have ideas, please let me know! After all, the whole point of this blog is to learn and grow from other teachers ahead of me. And I hope that this helps you too. If it does, let me know about that too. A little encouragement never hurts :)

"Content Literacy - the ability of someone to interact with and use strategies to interpret the content of some subject (in its own language) including being able to speak, listen to, read, and write in that language"

{Sassy}

*Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? by Cris Tovani

Inspiration

Do you ever read an article that a friend posted on Facebook or a quote that someone has pinned on Pinterest and feel so inspired? It might be a verse or a chapter in a book sometimes for me that I highlight AND underline. I need to share the knowledge I've just attained. Sometimes that knowledge is incredibly overwhelming at the same time though. I kind of feel like that is happening to me as I attempt to learn what content literacy is and how to teach my students how to "read" in different subjects. For example, here are a few of the quotes that I excitedly underlined this week and highlighted. 

"Teacher of any subject are going to help their cause by teaching their students to be better readers of their content. The industrial technology teacher didn't need to teach kids how to read poetry. He needed to teach students how to read directions and blueprints and whatever else students read in his class. Perhaps he does this reading so automatically that he isn't even aware of the skills required for it." Do I Really Have to Teach Reading by Cris Tovani p.25-26

Other times, that inspiration comes from a short but very clear talk. I will be the first person to tell you that I am a math nerd. I love it. I always do math homework first. I love helping my nieces with their math and pushing them to see how much they can figure out without being taught. Enough babbling... I just found this podcast by The Math Dude. Holy moley do I have a new math crush. Oh don't worry! Dan Meyer is still my main math man, but this new guy is slowly moving in... In this podcast he explains just a small part of how to understand the language of math. He literally took the words right out of my mouth. 

Students (and people in general) often say that "math is just not my subject" or "math and I don't get along very well." This could be due to an inability to speak math very well. I love that TMD (The Math Dude) compares math to a foreign language in which we need to be immersed in order to learn it. We also need "to speak it proficiently before we can use it efficiently." (Boy am I a sucker for cleverly placed rhymes.) This point almost begs teachers to teach their students how to read math. It begs for word walls in your math classroom like this one. Students need help learning this language and being immersed into the culture of math. Give them lists of words that they will see in the following units and allow them to sort these words into columns of "words I know and could teach to someone else" and "I have no idea". You can then allow students to help you in creating your word wall using words that are relevant and necessary in your classroom.

It may seem like I've gone off on a rant, but I've been inspired and so that inspiration had to be shared. Also, maybe if people know how inspired I am now, they'll continue to encourage me, as I become a teacher, to remember these lessons. 

"Content Literacy - the ability of someone to interact with and use strategies to interpret the content of some subject (in its own language) including being able to speak, listen to, read, and write in that language"

{Sassy}