Building Mathematical Comprehension - Chapter One

    Summer officially began for students yesterday @ noon.  Me - two more days!  But 2 of my summer book studies already began.

    I am linking up with Thinking of Teaching and Primary Inspired for their book study on Building Mathematical Comprehension, by Laney Sammons.  Last summer I read another of her books, called Guided Math and loved it.

 

    First of all, I have to admit I was one of those teachers who taught across the subjects integrating reading with science, reading with social studies, and reading with writing.  BUT, I saw math as a separate subject, very different from the others.  Yes, we wrote in math all the time, but I never really thought about using the same strategies in reading and math.   On page 22, Laney shares the Similarities Between Good Readers and Good Mathematicians.  Laney writes, “Just as good readers create meaning for understanding, mathematicians create meaning as they process mathematical concepts and solve problems (23).”  In the back of my head I knew this!

    In this book we are going to look at the seven comprehension strategies and see how they fit into mathematics.  They are:

•  Making Connections
•  Asking Questions  
•  Visualizing  
•  Making inferences   
•  Determining Importance   
•  Synthesizing    
•  Monitoring Meaning

     While most of us know about and use the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model in our classrooms, I appreciated how Laney shares with her readers how to explicitly teach these strategies to their students.  On page 31, she breaks it down into 6 simple steps:

1.  Explain what the strategy is
2.  Explain why it is important
3.  Explain when to use it
4.  Model how to perform the strategy
5.  Guides students while using the strategy
6.  Students independently use the strategy

     I hope to see this in action with specific examples in the chapters to come!  

What are you most excited to learn about in this book?