Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Word Problems In The Mathematics Textbook: An Instructional Resource Guide To Support Writing Instruction., Christine Picot, Jenifer Jasinski Schneider

Transformations

Abstract

Mathematics textbooks typically include word problems or story problems that require students to develop extended written responses. Yet, the answers to these prompts can vary so widely that preservice and inservice teachers must be prepared for multiple levels of interpretation of the language used to capture mathematical thinking. Based on an analysis of word problems within two teacher’s editions of elementary mathematics textbooks, we describe a series of strategies and tasks to scaffold teachers’ understanding of planning for word problems during mathematics instruction. We detail the following components; (1) the use of the Instructional Resource Guide, which assists …