An Analysis of Children's Strategies for Reading Mathematics

Abstract

Students “doing” mathematics ultimately results in students reading mathematics. This reading of mathematics is manifested in students reading words, symbols (including numerals), and visuals such as diagrams and graphs. Furthermore, students' successful response to word problems engages them in reading mathematics in the context of real − life or contrived situations presented in text. There are a variety of skills that students might use to read mathematics in these various arenas, and in most cases, multiple skills are utilized. This article presents the cases of two fourth grade students engaged in reading a children's trade book with embedded mathematics and in reading from their mathematics textbook. The authors found that the students utilized the knowledge from their daily lived experiences (from direct and indirect engagements) to assist them with the mathematics in the trade book and used conceptual understanding rather than formal procedures in response to the text of the mathematics textbook.