Meghan Sharp & Melaine Rickard Turrentine Middle School March 2011

Introductions Meghan Sharp Melaine Rickard 18 years experience Certification in science, ELA, & social studies AIG certified NBCT in science Working towards Masters in Science Ed. 10 years experience Certification in math and social studies AIG certified Working towards NBCT in mathematics

What is Literacy First? Three year program purchased by the district to improve reading levels of students who are multiple grade levels behind Extensive training for content area teachers for one year and then we “fly solo” incorporating strategies into our disciplines Monthly visits to evaluate progress Strategies used are proven to increase student success rates

Focus Strategies Visualization/Picture Walk Word Sorts SQ3R/SQRP 2

Visualization Talk about what are the key words that help you “see” text Color Texture Shape Size movement Read text Create a sketch of what they see from the text

Look at the pictures and tell me what math you “see”

Picture Walk Same skill as visualization but the opposite order Find some interesting pictures that can have mathematical implications. Students view each picture and write what math they “see” in the picture. Great for an opening activity for a unit, bell ringer activity, assessment piece, or student assignment. Low tech-print pictures or draw pictures and hang around room for silent discussion High tech-make a graffiti wall in Smartboard

Word Sorts Used to help students identify patterns Used as pre assessment, drill and practice, and assessment. Can be whole class using the Smart Board, small group using cards, individual using cut/paste papers

Word Sort Take the sort out in front of you and let’s try it I use it for: Rational and irrational Vocabulary Equations and answers Graph and the equation 3 D shapes

SQ3R Non fiction text strategy Survey-look over the section Question-using the headings, write some questions that the reader has and thinks are going to be answered in the text Read-just do it! Record-write down any notes or answers to the original questions Review-review your notes, check to see if questions were answers

Reading to learn mathematics text more efficiently to understand the information better

Survey Read any introductions, titles, subheadings, captions, examples, vocabulary terms, and problems at the end of the chapter Ask yourself: What is the title of this chapter? Are there any subheadings? What does it say I will learn? Is there any new vocabulary? Are there any key concepts? Are there any study tips, graphs, or charts?

Questions Formulate some questions you have about the topic or any of the “stuff” you surveyed Use the basic signal words! Examples: Who is this theorem/formula named after? What basic math skills do I need in order to apply this new information? When am I ever going to use this? Where would I see this formula/theorem used? Why is this important? How do I do this?

Read In order to do this you should have already looked up or learned the vocabulary learned any symbols formulated questions that you are going to search for answers Make sure to write down any thing you find that will help answer your questions that you formulated

Problems Look back at the sample problems in the section Put the sample problems in your own words Draw diagrams and add labels Ask your self: What concepts, formulas, and/or rules were applied? What method (s) were used to solve the problem? Why? What was the first step? Second step? Third step? Etc. Have any steps been combined? What differences or similarities are there between examples in the sample problems and the practice problems?

Practice Try some problems on your own! Use the notes you took when you worked on problems Ask yourself: What method, formula, or rules should I apply? What method should I use? Why? How do I begin? Can I do this problem another way? Should I? Can this answer be simplified? What other kind of problems have I seen that this one is like?

They’re Going Steady Use the SQRP 2 strategy to evaluate the text Walk around the room and post your brainpower!

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