I Deel Elementary, Newsletter

April 25, 2016

HOW DO WE MOVE FORWARD?

We will have mandatory teacher training on
how to incorporate literature in their math
lesson plans. By the end of the training, the
teacher will be able to:
1.

Chose a text

Picture books, for example, may be used to

investigate mathematically interesting
illustrations, whereas chapter books may be
used to discuss story events from a
mathematical perspective (Smith & Hintz, 105).
Emily (2nd grade)

Dear Parents,
As you may already know, we scored poorly in
the state mandated math exam. It has been our
mission, since we received the results, to figure
out a way to improve as a whole. Our math
specialists have been observing low scoring
classrooms and high scoring classrooms all over
the state. They have found when students who
find the relevance of mathematics after reading
(or listening to) a book are learning to recognize
mathematics used in the world around them
(Price & Lennon, n.d).
Another interesting thing the researchers found
was high parent involvement. Parents are easily
able to support their child and the classroom
teacher by incorporating mathematics into daily
activities, such as measuring, counting, shopping,
scheduling, estimating and comparing (Price &
Lenon, n.d.). They noticed students who had their
parents more involved compared to their
counterparts, scored lower on the math state
exam.

2. Exploring the text with students

Exploring the text involves reading aloud and
engaging students in lively discussion before,
during, and after reading (Smith & Hintz, 106)
3. Extend the text
-The third step, extending the text, helps
students continue to explore ideas after the
read-aloud is finished (Smith & Hints, 107)
In conclusion
The teacher will be able to select a text
depending on the specific math concept and the
age group. They will use a quality book. In step
2, the teacher explores the text with the
students while reading out loud. The teacher will
make it interactive. This step can be used to
observe which student is having a problem
understanding, which gives time for
adjustments and re-teaching later. In step 3, the
students and the teacher extends the text by
writing about it, discussing the text, or creating
other activities that will make sure the student
can model and explain the concept.

WILL IT WORK?
Our researchers observed a case where a group
of students were introduced to circumference at
the same time. They were split into 2 groups, one
was iterature based teaching, and the other one
was lecture based teaching. The evidence
showed the students in the childrens literature
group showed markedly improved performance
in geometry (Capraro & Capraro, 21). The
students who read Sir Cumference and the First
Round Table: A Math Adventure, attained higher
scores than their other peers who were lectured.
The literature based group was able to internalize
the idea of Pi and diameter by having a real story
where it was incorporated and used.
This observation backs up the notion that,
literature based teaching is more effective when
introducing new ideas, versus not using literature
based teaching when introducing new concepts.

THANK YOU PARENTS,

Thank you for taking the time to read into your
son or daughters education. With your
continuous involvement, we can help our
students reach their full potential as long as we
have your support. Please do not forget to thank
our hard working teachers for all they do!
Helpful link: http://tsuteacher.weebly.com

Do not forget open house is Tuesday at 4 pm.

Written by Mr. Moreno