Language word walls for teachers
Language in maths? Does it really matter?
Absolutely! If students can’t communicate using the appropriate maths language, then they can’t effectively communicate their understanding of concepts. Or worse, if students don’t have the maths language they need from prior learning, then they may not be able to access new content based on that prior learning.
Teachers need to introduce new maths language explicitly and to model its use for students. It’s great for teachers to know the maths language introduced in their grade, but it’s even more powerful when teachers know the maths language that comes before and after their grade.
‘But why pay so much attention to maths language?’ I hear you ask.
Simple. Because using maths language is a really powerful tool for differentiation!
Mathematics is developmentally sequenced – it evolves from one grade to the next and you need to know what comes before, to understand what you are learning now. Knowing and being able to use maths language is a big part of students progressing their knowledge and skills.
Let’s take multiplicative thinking and the notion of groups. Students move from
Groups | Groups of | How many in each group? | How many groups?
TO
The array, (horizontal) rows, (vertical) columns
TO
The area model, dimensions, height, width, …
How can leaders help teachers learn all the maths language from K to Y6?
Easy! With Anita’s language word walls!
Anita’s language word wall is a single A4 page that shows the developmental sequence of language for a single substrand/concept from Kindergarten to Year 6. It allows teachers to see at a glance the maths language they should expect their students to know from previous learning as well as where the language goes in future learning.
Click on the image to watch the video (4:35 min) in which Anita explains her teacher word walls and empower yourself and/or your team with maths language K–6.
How can teachers use Anita’s word walls?
You should:
- use them to learn how mathematical language builds from Kindergarten to Year 6
- use them when programming maths lessons so that you intentionally plan to embed maths language in every lesson
- use the planned maths language explicitly in your classroom – just have a go! You have everything to gain and nothing to lose.
- keep referring back to the relevant word wall(s) when programming – they are your ‘teacher cheat sheets’!
As you build your knowledge of how maths language develops from Kindergarten to Year 6, you will become more confident using it in the classroom, and differentiation will be so much easier!
How can Anita’s word walls be used by curriculum leaders?
Curriculum leaders can follow these 5 simple steps to support teachers to embed maths language in every lesson.
- Start with the teacher language word wall for Multiplication and Division. Print one copy, double-sided, for each teacher at your school.
- Allocate 10 minutes for professional learning to train your teachers in how to use this amazing new resource at a grade, stage, or whole-staff meeting. Feel free to use my video in the training!
- Once all teachers understand how to use the word walls, then you can choose the next most relevant word wall for each grade/stage team to engage with at their next meeting.
- Assist each team to explicitly embed maths language into their weekly units of work when they are programming.
- Model the explicit use of maths language in the classroom with each teacher.
This process can assist you in meeting AITSL Standard Descriptor 2.1 – Highly Accomplished: Support colleagues using current and comprehensive knowledge of content and teaching strategies to develop and implement engaging learning and teaching programs.
Where do I get Anita’s K–6 teacher language word walls?
You can view and download each of the 16 teacher language word walls that cover each substrand of the NSW Mathematics K–10 Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum: Volume 1 (BOS NSW 2012) in the resources section of my website. In the category column ‘Resource Type’, simply select the subcategory ‘Language: teachers | ChinTALK’ and all 16 word walls will be viewable to download.
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