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ERIC Number: EJ1201824
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Jan
Pages: 6
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0025-5769
EISSN: N/A
Supporting English Learners in the Math Classroom: Five Useful Tools
Zhao, Manqian; Lapuk, Karen
Mathematics Teacher, v112 n4 p288-293 Jan 2019
According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2016), the number of public school students in the United States who were English learners (ELs) was estimated at 4.5 million. However, in 2005, the national standardized testing scores (Fry 2007) show that about 51 percent of eighth-grade EL students were behind other students in reading and math. Many teachers are trained to be mathematics teachers in a setting where students speak only English. However, with the growing number of EL students around the country, teaching mathematics now includes teaching language as well. This can be overwhelming for novice teachers. After years of supporting ELs in high school mathematics classes, the authors have outline in this article some strategies that have proven beneficial to support students' math skills and language. Tools exist that can increase English language proficiency and content knowledge. The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) provides structure for teachers to plan lessons that meet the linguistic and content needs of students who are learning English. The SIOP informed the authors implementation of the mathematics tools included in this work (Echevarria, Vogt, and Short 2013). Their five tools are based on the eight components of the SIOP model. In general, these tools allow teachers to get to know their students and their prior knowledge, build background, and most important, develop their math and English language with strategies, lesson planning that includes content and language objectives, interaction, and comprehensible input. These tools also aim to narrow the gap between different cultures, increase students' mathematics vocabulary, promote motivation and understanding when engaging with word problems, develop writing skills, and improve oral expression ability for EL students in the mathematics classroom.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. 1906 Association Drive, Reston, VA 20191. Tel: 800-235-7566; Tel: 703-620-9840; Fax: 703-476-2570; e-mail: NCTM@nctm.org; Web site: http://www.nctm.org/publications/mathematics-teacher/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Secondary Education; High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A