Teaching Math and ELA in All Subject Areas

By: Mary Ellen Weaver
Summer PD 2013
Mary Ellen Weaver

What is literacy?
Being literate means being able to
read and write at a level to be
successful in today's world and also
being proficient at math, knowing
how to use technology, and
knowing how to solve problems
and make decisions.
Mary Ellen Weaver

Is literacy important in your subject?
Science:
Scientific literacy encompasses
written, numerical, and digital literacy
as they pertain to understanding
Science, its
methodology, observations, and
theories.
Researching, reading higher level texts.Mary Ellen Weaver

Social Studies:
 providing materials for student interaction that are
not exclusively limited to social studies
 explicitly demonstrating the patterns of text
organization in nonfiction text, and establishing
the connection of how these structures support
comprehension
 providing multiple exposures and rehearsals with
the patterns of text organization
 providing opportunities for expository writing,
including self-selected patterns of organization
Mary Ellen Weaver

FRAYER MODEL
Mary Ellen Weaver

Physical Education:
Incorporating reading into lessons by
posting game directions for students to
read, asking another student to
reiterate what they heard and following
up with guiding questions.
Using number sense in routines and
activities.
Inserting content vocabulary into PE
Class. Mary Ellen Weaver

Art:
Fostering a student’s ability to describe
and interpret art, and to apply these
skills to understanding written text.
Connecting Art to the major principles
of literacy through extended
focus, hypothesizing, providing
multiple interpretations, building
background knowledge base, giving
evidence and thorough description.
Mary Ellen Weaver

 Music:
 Oral language is an interactive and social process,
and music is a natural way for children to
experience rich language in a pleasurable way.
 Establishing a sense of rhythm can be used to
increase a student's awareness of rhyming patterns
and alliteration in other areas of reading and
writing.
 Music and songs help increase these listening
skills in a fun, relaxed manner. Listening skills are
key in singing, language and expressive movement,
and later reading and writing.
Mary Ellen Weaver

Technology:
Today's students need technology
skills for communicating,
investigating, accessing and using
information, computing, thinking
critically about messages inherent
in new media, and understanding
and evaluating data.
Mary Ellen Weaver

Let’s try an activity together!
 Math and PE
 Place Value Throwing
 http://pecentral.com/lessonideas/ViewLesson.asp?ID
=3908#.UgJhzKjD_IU
Mary Ellen Weaver

 Music and Math-
 Okay Let’s Sing! (Yes, I mean everyone!)
Hey Diddle Diddle
the median’s the middle,
you add and divide for the mean.
The mode is the one that you see
the most
and the range is the difference
between. Yeah!
Mary Ellen Weaver

And where do I find them?
Mary Ellen Weaver

CoreStandards.org
Mary Ellen Weaver

EngageNY.org
Mary Ellen Weaver

These are broken down by grade and should be used as a quick
reference sheet.
These are just overviews and you should take the time to read
and understand the complete standards.
Let’s take a look grade by grade:
Mary Ellen Weaver

The ELA standards are not as concise as the Math standards.
They are much more specific and are divided into Reading,
Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language Skills.
All of these areas should be addressed when incorporating
literacy into your lessons, so be sure to read the entire Core.
Mary Ellen Weaver

Rather than listing multiple pages
for you to read, I will sum it all up
for you…
The ELA standards are aimed at teaching the
students to THINK CRITICALLY!
They should be able to
READ, ANALYZE, CONTEXTUALIZE, RESP
OND TO and SHARE information from any
written document or spoken word!
Mary Ellen Weaver

RCA’s Focus for the 2013-2014 School Year
1. Close reading of passages: Close reading means that
the reader is paying attention to the details of a
passage. The reader will be very thorough-no
skimming!
2. Making evidence-based claims and arguments:
Students will be validate claims made in a passage by
finding supporting facts and detail directly found in a
passage. Likewise, they will be able to build their own
argument and support it with details.
3. Researching to deepen understanding: We expect that
the students will become authorities on many topics by
seeking out additional information. They need to
know how and where they can find more information.
Mary Ellen Weaver

Typical NYS Math and ELA Test Questions
 After reading a short non-fiction article, a third
grader is asked:
 Read the sentence from paragraph 7. When they are
kept outside of their natural environment, they may
copy unusual sounds. What is the meaning of
“environment” in this sentence?
 A. the work a person or animal does
 B. the place a person or animal lives
 C. the family a person or animal has
 D. the noise a person or animal makes
Mary Ellen Weaver

 In grade 6, the students must answer the following
question after reading a 2 page non-fiction article.
 Which sentence would be most important to include in a
summary of the article?
 A. Many scientists perform research at the South Pole
because the skies are always clear and in the winter, always
dark, making the South Pole ideal for stargazing.
 B. Scientists set up a station at the South Pole for studying
the climate, stars, atmosphere, and polar ice.
 C. Building a road to a scientific station at the South Pole
was a difficult task with many dangers, like cold weather
and deep crevasses.
 D. Construction of a road for travel to the South Pole could
only be done in the summer months.
Mary Ellen Weaver

A typical 5th grade Math problem:
Mr. Morris built a fence to enclose his yard. He put up
¾ of the fence on Monday. On Tuesday, he put up 1/6
of the fence, and on Wednesday, he put up the rest of
the fence.
What portion of the fence did he put up on
Wednesday?
A. 11/ 12
B. 3 /5
C. 2/ 5
D. 1/ 12
Mary Ellen Weaver

A typical 4th grade Math problem:
A club’s first meeting was attended by 28
people. The first meeting was attended by 4
times as many people as the second meeting.
How many people attended the second
meeting?
A.7
B.24
C.32
D.112
Mary Ellen Weaver

Unless students
are accustomed
to THINKING
and READING
with a CRITICAL
eye, this is how
they feel!
Mary Ellen Weaver

Teach Critical Thinking
 Ask open-ended questions. Asking questions that
don't have one right answer encourages children to
respond creatively without being afraid of giving the
wrong answer.
 Example: Do you like strawberries? VS Why do you
like strawberries so much?
 Which of these two requires more thought in
providing an answer?
 Stay away from YES/NO questions and encourage
WHY?
 Let’s practice with this painting!
Mary Ellen Weaver

Van Gogh-Starry Night
Mary Ellen Weaver

• Critical and classify. Classification plays an
important role in critical thinking because it
requires identification and sorting according to a
rule, or set of rules, that kids must discover,
understand, and apply. If you play classification
games, be sure to follow up the activity with
questions about the similarities and differences
between the groups. You can sort everything from
paper clips to Legos to books to balls to promote
critical thinking.
• Snack time: let’s classify these candies!
Mary Ellen Weaver

Work in groups. In a group setting, students
are exposed to the thought processes of their
peers. Thus, they can begin to understand how
others think and that there are multiple ways of
approaching problems — not just one correct
way.
Example: There are 24 students in the Art
class, but only 16 paint brushes. If each paint
brush is shared by 2 students, how many
brushes will go unused?
Mary Ellen Weaver

ALGORITHM
24/2=12
16-12=4 unused
PICTURE
12 pairs so we
need 12 brushes,
matched with
the kids and that
leaves 4 extra
Mary Ellen Weaver

Make decisions. Help students consider pros and
cons, but don't be afraid to let them make a wrong
choice.
Then evaluate the decision later.
Ask,
How do you feel about your decision?
What would you do differently next time?
Did you see a classmate use another way that you might
try next time?
Why do you think your method did not work in this
situation?
Mary Ellen Weaver

Find patterns. Whatever you're doing, whether it's
going to the painting or watching a video, encourage
students to look for patterns or make connections for
critical thinking practice. For example, relate a favorite
television show to a real-life situation. Or, in the way a
ball bounces or a chorus repeats, or a shape is actually a
series of shapes together or an artist uses the same color
signature, etc…
Mary Ellen Weaver

Collaborate with Math and ELA
Teachers
 When preparing your lesson plans for the
following week or month, ask what they are
working on.
 Ask them how you could support them in
your class.
 Ask them for the standard or objective that
you should focus on.
 Build off their Unit Theme.
Mary Ellen Weaver

For example, Ms. K. is beginning to write her lesson plans
for October and wants to support the classroom teachers.
She approaches a few of the teachers and realizes that
many will be working on Geometry during that month.
Combined with her Art Curriculum, she looks to
incorporate books and other language items.
Here is a skeleton plan for Ms. K. to build from:
K–
a. pre assess for existing knowledge
b. read The Greedy Triangle
c. use hands-on examples of shapes found in a child’s life
d. create a visual arts project to support the standards
e. pose questions throughout the unit, with increasing
complexity, about shapes
f. Play a game about naming shapes or have students
create stories about shapes to use as a post-assessment
Mary Ellen Weaver

Teach Using Themes
 Thematic units are units of 10-12 lessons created using
the content and structure for organizing learning
activities. Teaching themes is based on the curriculum.
 Through units children are able to develop skills and
learn information as much as possible about the topic
being studied.
 Themes allow students to explore the content in a deep
and meaningful way.
 Themes are an EASY way to INVOLVE FAMILY in the
learning process!
Mary Ellen Weaver

Here is a fantastic example!
Mary Ellen Weaver

Acquire, communicate, and investigate worthwhile
knowledge in depth
With thematic instruction, it is not necessary to divide the
day into separate learning periods. Instead, the day may be
spent exploring an interesting topic in a variety of ways
over a longer period. Students come to view school
subjects as connected and interrelated, rather than
isolated and divided, because subject areas such as
math, science, social studies, art, and music may be
studied within the context of a given theme. This
exploration may include reading and writing about the
topic, role-playing, art projects, music, and research.
Advantages of Cross-Curricular Thematic Instruction
Mary Ellen Weaver

Integrate and enrich the language processes of reading,
writing, listening, speaking, and thinking
 Active exploration of a topic promotes discussion and
the use of all the language arts. Through these
experiences, students learn strategies and skills in
meaningful situations.
Practice reading different kinds of materials for varied
purposes
 Narrative and expository literature serves as the focus
of thematic instruction, but there are also multiple
opportunities for reading other types of text, including
poetry, student-written pieces, and "real world" texts
such as magazine articles that contain challenging
facts.
Mary Ellen Weaver

Use prior knowledge of the world and past
experiences with language and text to create
relationships among various sources of
information
 Students build upon their current knowledge base
and connect what they know with what they are
learning. As new ideas are gleaned from a variety of
reading experiences, they become integrated with
previously learned information.
Make choices, interact, collaborate, and cooperate
 Students explore topics individually, in small
heterogeneous groups, and together as a whole class.
Reading and writing tasks are
authentic, interesting, relevant, and contextualized.
Students make choices based on their
interests, abilities, and needs.
Mary Ellen Weaver

Apply what they learn in meaningful and "real
world" contexts
 As students explore topics in a variety of ways and
through various sources, they learn to relate what they
are learning to their own lives. Activities for home
exploration help students bridge school learning and
their lives at home, with the intent of helping students
develop problem-solving and decision-making skills.
Informally assess their understanding and
application of what they are learning
 Students and teacher alike share the responsibility for
periodic progress checks as well as ongoing evaluation.
Students learn to set learning goals and monitor their
progress in attaining them.
Mary Ellen Weaver

Participate and learn, regardless of ability, level of
language development, or background
 Because a variety of reading resources are utilized, all
students have the opportunity to read materials that
are of interest to them and at the appropriate difficulty
level. Lessons are flexibly planned, based on students'
needs and interests. For example, while some students
may need extra practice with a strategy or skill, others
may need additional time for writing or independent
reading. This flexibility is central to thematic teaching.
Mary Ellen Weaver

Planning for Cross-Curricular Thematic Instruction
 Select a Theme
 select themes that are not only interesting to
students, but are meaningful and substantive
 Choose a Key Concept to Guide Instruction
 select tasks that encourage students to
investigate, speculate, and problem-solve, asking
questions that enable them to explore other topics more
fully
 Identify Skills and Strategies to Be Taught
 USING THE COMMON CORE STANDARDS
 Identify a Range of Appropriate Resources
 variety of reading materials, outside
experts, parents, administrators/staff
Mary Ellen Weaver

Organize your planning with a web
Mary Ellen Weaver

Rubric
**the same way your students know what is expected
and if they have met that expectation**
Mary Ellen Weaver

Beginning
1
Developing
2
Accomplished
3
Exemplary
4
Score
Instruction Goals
and Objectives
Instructional goals and
objectives are not stated.
Learners can not tell what is
expected of them. Learners
can not determine what they
should know and be able to
do as a result of learning and
instruction.
objectives are stated but are not
easy to understand. Learners
are given some information
regarding what is expected of
them., but may not be able to
decipher what they should be
able to do as a result..
objectives are stated. Learners
have an understanding of what
is expected of them. Learners
can determine what they should
know and be able to do as a
result of learning and
instruction.
objectives clearly stated.
Learners have a clear
understanding of what is
expected of them. Learners can
determine what they should
know and be able to do as a
result of learning and
instruction.
Instructional
Strategies
Instructional strategies are
missing or strategies used are
inappropriate.
Some instructional strategies
are appropriate for learning
outcome(s). Some strategies are
based on a combination of
practical experience, theory,
research and documented best
practice.
Most instructional strategies are
appropriate for learning
outcome(s). Most strategies are
based on a combination of
practical experience, theory,
research and documented best
practice.
Instructional strategies
appropriate for learning
outcome(s). Strategy based on a
combination of practical
experience
,theory, research and
documented best practice.
Cross-curricular
integration
Standards indication Math or
ELA integration missing. No
evidence of integration.
Attempt is made to bring in
Math and ELA standards, but it
is poorly or marginally
implemented.
Math and/or ELA standards
present in lesson and
assessment with some evidence
of thoughtful integration of best
practices.
Math and/or ELA standards are
clear and integrated well into
primary subject activity.
Rubric for Lesson Plan Development
Mary Ellen Weaver

Materials
Needed
Material list is
missing.
Some materials
necessary for student
and teacher to
complete lesson are
listed, but list is
incomplete.
Most materials
and teacher to
complete lesson are
listed.
All materials
and teacher to
complete lesson
clearly listed.
Organization
and
Presentation
Lesson plan is
unorganized and not
presented in a neat
manner.
Lesson plan is
organized, but not
professionally
presented.
Lesson plan is organized
and neatly presented.
Complete package
presented in well
organized and
professional fashion.
Assessment
Method for assessing
student learning and
evaluating instruction
is missing.
evaluating instruction is
vaguely stated.
Assessment is teacher
dependent.
present. Can be readily
used for expert, peer,
and/or self-evaluation.
clearly delineated and
authentic. Can be
readily used for expert,
peer, and/or self-
evaluation.
TOTAL POINTS
Mary Ellen Weaver

On-line Resources
• http://web001.greece.k12.ny.us/academics.cfm?subpage=42972
• http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/reading/li300.
htm
• http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards/download-the-standards
• http://www.engageny.org/
• http://www.pelinks4u.org/archives/interdisciplinary/070107.htm
• http://pecentral.com/lessonideas/ViewLesson.asp?ID=3908#.UgTeSqjD
_IV
• http://www.songsforteaching.com/lb/literacymusic.htm
• http://www.readworks.org/books/passages
• http://www.nctm.org/
• http://guidedmath.wordpress.com/ccss-resources/
• http://pinterest.com/
• http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/
Mary Ellen Weaver

• http://www.amle.org/
• http://www.pgcps.pg.k12.md.us/~elc/readingacross.html
• http://www.edutopia.org/blog/literacy-instruction-across-curriculum-
importance
• http://literacyteacher.com/
• http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr146.shtml
• http://www.math.dartmouth.edu/~mqed/eBookshelf/
• https://www.middlesex.mass.edu/math/projects.aspx
• http://free.ed.gov/resource.cfm/?resource_id=1505&subject_id=226
Google Search Key Words:
Literacy across the curriculum (or in your subject area)
Reading across the curriculum (or in your subject area)
Interdisciplinary lesson plans
Math across the curriculum(or in your subject area)
Writing across the curriculum (or in your subject area)
Mary Ellen Weaver

Handouts Included:
PPT outline
Common Core Standards, abbreviated
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Rubric
Mary Ellen Weaver

Teaching Math and ELA in All Subject Areas

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