Is This a Math Test or a Reading Test?

Why Word Problems Stump Even Our Strongest Readers

For those of you with extra reading time, I'm enthusiastically, sincerely, and non-sarcastically recommending these two fantastic articles on literacy in the math classroom:

Attack Story Problems with the 3 Phases of Close Reading 

and 

Reading in the Mathematics Classroom

For those without a lot of extra reading time at the moment (Ahem, teachers in between the months of August and June!), let me skim them for you!

Part 1: 

Why is this a problem? Don't reading teachers teach kids how to read?

Yes, reading teachers teach students how to read. Reading to understand math problems, however, differs from reading to understand a literary passage in several ways:

• Word problems are written in a very compact style. The author of a math problem attempts to squeeze as much information as possible into each sentence with minimal redudancy 
• Word problems force your eyes to travel back and forth. Unlike information in reading passages which is generally laid out left-to-right, information in word problems forces the reader's eye to move back and forth and up and down repeatedly throughout the text.
• Word problems contain three different types of text: 
• The Problem Statement: How many apples does Joseph need for the Halloween carnival?
• Explanatory Information: Joseph estimates that one third of the 245 guests invited to the carnival will purchase a caramel apple.
• Supportive Prose: The student council at Joseph's school is planning a Halloween carnival to raise funds for an upcoming field trip.
• The key idea of a word problem is usually found at the end of the passage. This differs from reading passages, where the main information is usually found at the beginning of a paragraph. 
• Words used in daily language have different meanings in math class. For example, when I tell you that my Mom and I have similar hairstyles, I don't mean that you can write a proportion to describe the relationship between our haircuts.
• Small words make a huge difference. Finding 20% of your total bill is not the same as taking 20% off your total bill. (Metsisto, 2014). 

Part 2:

What can I do in my math class to build "word problem literacy?"

Model your thinking out loud.

As you read through a problem, "think out loud" about what you would do to approach the problem. Model the process of figuring out what the problem is asking, re-reading the text to discover a problem-solving approach, and re-reading again to pull together the important information. Talk about any difficulties, tricks," or extraneous information that you notice. As your students' mathematical literacy improves, ask them to model their own thinking.

Pre-Read. Read. Re-Read.

• Pre-Read
• Your goal with pre-reading is to get the gist of the problem. Ask your students to do this without holding a pencil in their hands so that they are not tempted to start marking up the problem yet.
• Read.
• Get out the pencils and read the problem a second time with the intention of marking specific details. Students may underline, circle or highlight the important information now that they know what they're looking for. Be sure to notice the small words!
• Re-Read.
• Work the problem with your pencil in your hand. Follow the mantra, "Read a little, do a little," working through the problem piece by piece as you re-read it. ("Attack Story Problems," 2014).

"Attack Story Problems with the 3 Phases of Close Reading." Attack Story Problems with the 3 Phases of Close Reading. Smekens Education Solutions, Inc., 22 Aug. 2014. Web. 10 Jan. 2017. <http://www.smekenseducation.com/Attack-Story-Problems-with-the-.html>.

Metsisto, Diana. "2. Reading in the Mathematics Classroom." Literacy Strategies for Improving Mathematics Instruction. By Joan M. Kenney. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2005.  <http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/105137/chapters/Reading-in-the-Mathematics-Classroom.aspx >