Communicating

Communication is an essential process in learning mathematics. Students communicate for various purposes and for different audiences, such as the teacher, a peer, a group of students, the whole class, a community member, or their family. They may use oral, visual, written, or gestural communication. Communication also involves active and respectful listening. Teachers provide differentiated opportunities for all students to acquire the language of mathematics, developing their communication skills, which include expressing, understanding, and using appropriate mathematical terminology, symbols, conventions, and models.

(Ontario Elementary Math Curriculum, 2020)

Instructional Strategies

• Use literacy strategies to help students make sense of what they read.

• Encourage students to use correct mathematical language and conventions when presenting arguments during group or class discussions or explaining solutions.

• Introduce new terminology in a variety of ways and model the correct use of mathematical symbols, conventions, vocabulary, and notations.

• Provide informal feedback on an individual student basis during the learning process.

Prompting Questions

• How can you express (explain, describe) this in a different way?

• What mathematical symbols could you use to communicate this statement?

• What mathematical operations are implied by the wording of this problem?