Maths
LEARNING THE LANGUAGE OF MATHEMATICS Reasoning in mathematics depends on a sound understanding of mathematical language. In this article, Shannen Doherty explains how she advocates teaching this to students throughout the Maths curriculum. By Shannen Doherty
We live in a world full of TV, tablets, and screens galore. This must be affecting children’s vital early years experiences. Anecdotally, I have seen children starting reception far behind their peers when it comes to language. We’d be fools to ignore the fact that some children do not have a linguistically rich early experience. Adding covid to the mix will surely have had a knock-on effect, too. Children have missed out on the chance
to socialise and talk and practise conversing, all of which support their development. So, when it comes to using mathematical language in school, they need support. It doesn’t just happen overnight! Mathematical language is the means through which we communicate our ideas and our thinking. It’s crucial to the learning of our students. The National Curriculum mentions mathematical language in their
aims, “reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language”. As far as I’m concerned, teaching mathematical language is the key to unlocking reasoning. I am a firm believer that children need explicit vocabulary teaching and structured language in mathematics. We need to take a structured approach. Learning vocabulary can’t be left to chance.
“Why did we start using ‘addend’ to talk about the numbers in addition?”
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