When teaching, do you struggle to incorporate writing activities in math? This would make sense to many people, as math normally deals with numbers and logical rules.
Many would also argue, however, that it is important to have students write in all subject areas… including math! It’s even easier than you may think, too. Every subject area has a necessity for writing to show and/or assess student knowledge of the concept(s)!
If you’re self-contained, just a math teacher, or want to help a coworker who teaches math, use some of these strategies to get students writing about what they learn! All of these methods also make great formative (and sometimes summative) assessments!
If you’re interested in learning strategies to include writing in ALL subject areas, check out my blog post!
Writing Activities in Math
Reflection Journals
The first easy way to get students writing after a math lesson is to have them reflect on what they’ve learned. It could be as simple as having them keep a daily journal and writing in it at the end of the day. It would also make for a practical formative assessment or exit slip!
Here are some examples of what might be on a reflection sheet:
- What did I do well today?
- What was challenging for me?
- What will I try next time?
- How do I know my work is high-quality?
- What questions do I still have?
For younger students, you could use sentence starters instead:
- One thing I did well today was…
- One thing that challenged me today was…
- Next time, I will try to…
- I know my work is high-quality because…
- The questions that I still have are…
I have provided a free download of simple templates you can use for reflection journals! Click the picture or click here to get it. They are usable for any subject area!
How-To Writing
Next, students can use writing in math by creating a “how-to” piece, or even a visual! This can be done for almost any concept at any grade level. Just like all of the methods on this post, it would make an excellent formative (or even summative) assessment!
Students would write a step-by-step guide on how to solve a specific problem, use a specific formula, or use a specific skill (such as multiplying or dividing, for example).
This could also be tied into the reading skill where students analyze different structures of writing. This would be a “sequence” of how to complete a specific problem or use a specific method!
Explain the Error
Give students a math problem that has the work already shown, along with a wrong answer. Students must first identify where someone went wrong while completing the answer, and then figure out the correct way to do it.
Once students have figured out where the problem went wrong and what the correct answer is, they can explain what the error was and how the problem should be solved instead!
Explain the Answer
Although the last strategy suggested explaining a math error, a great way to incorporate writing into math is for students to explain a correct answer. Students would explain how they got an answer in words after they’ve shown their work.
A fun way to do this would be to ask students how they would teach someone else how to get the correct answer. They could create a dialogue or skit as an extension!
One thing I’ve tried before is to have students draw a character with a speech bubble. They would then write a paragraph to explain their answer in the speech bubble, as if the character is teaching the reader!
Which method is best? -Persuasive
Finally, if you feel your students are ready, a persuasive essay could be written in math about different methods to solve problems. Common Core and other standard sets require teachers to teach division several different ways, for example. Students could write a persuasive essay on the “best” way to divide!
Students need a foundation and understanding of essays, however, before using this strategy. If you’re looking for an engaging topic to teach persuasive essays, check out my “Rottweiler vs. German Shepherd” resource!
Do you have any more tips about using writing strategies in math? Tell me below in the comments!
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