The article, “Using Transactional Reading Strategies to Support Sense-Making and Discussion in Mathematics Classrooms” describes a study that focused on the importance of reading in mathematics to promote problem-solving, discussion, and conceptual understanding (Borasi, Siegel, and Fonzi 1998). Reading in the mathematics classroom has been limited to traditional textbooks and word problems. The article argues that students should be exposed to a number of texts to expand their mathematical reading comprehension and literacy within the discipline. The study conducted research in four different secondary mathematics classrooms that implemented strong reading strategies into the curriculum. Within these math classrooms, three different reading strategies were observed. They are known as Say Something, Cloning an Author, and Sketch-to-Sketch. I found these three strategies to be potentially useful in my future classroom to develop disciplinary literacy.
The Say Something strategy promotes peer dialogue. It argues that a reader’s comprehension will increase as they discuss their confusions, connections, and points of interest with a partner. As the students talk about the text, they formulate meaning through an “open-ended” approach (Borasi, Siegel, and Fonzi 1998). The Say Something strategy allows students to express how they feel about a text in an informal way. In the Cloning an Author strategy, students are instructed to create maps of important concepts and ideas found in the text. As they read, they are to stop whenever they identify a key idea. Then they write the idea on a card. Once they finish reading, they can organize their cards based on connections and similar ideas. The third strategy, Sketch-to-Sketch, instructs students to draw a sketch of their interpretations of the text they read. Through creating visual art from the language of the text, students may find new meaning.
One of the texts that the students in the study read was from Davis and Hersh’s The Mathematical Experience. The text discusses mathematics throughout history and how it has influenced society. One chapter that the students read was about the atomic bomb. Through reading this text and implementing the three strategies, students were able to engage in dialogue and make meaning of mathematical concepts in the real world. Promoting the reading of diverse texts in the mathematics classroom will show students that math has a place in their world. Consistently promoting reading in the math classroom will familiarize students with the discourse.
Borasi, R., Siegel, M., Fonzi, J., & Smith, C. F. (1998). Using transactional reading strategies to support sense-making and discussion in mathematics classrooms: An exploratory study.Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 29(3), 275-305.
Literacy in Every Classroom 