Teaching Math to Multilingual Students, Grades K-8: Positioning English Learners for Success(Corwin Mathematics Series)

With case studies and activities that provide a solid foundation for teachers' growth and exploration, this groundbreaking book will help teachers and teacher educators engage in meaningful, humanized mathematics instruction.

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknowledgements Our Hope for Multilingual Learners Teachers Who Inspire Studying Teacher Practice Interacting With Multilingual Learners and Their Families Position Multilingual Learners as Classroom Leaders What Research says About Positioning Reflecting of Xiao Li′s Experience Reflecting on Nabil Abadi′s Experience Reflecting on José López’s Experience Positioning Students as Experts One Year Later Reflecting on Why Positioning Matters Recognize How Teachers Position Students Positioning Multilingual Learners as Leaders Explicitly Positioning Multilingual Learners as Leaders Implicitly Positioning Multilingual Learners as Leaders Strategies for Positioning Multilingual learners as Leaders Thinking About Positioning in Your Practice Facilitate Multilingual Learners′ Participation in Mathematics Classroom Reflecting on Your Experience with Participating What Research Says About Student Participation Factors That Influence the Participation of Multilingual Learners Reflecting on Your Experiences with Fear Overcoming Fear Encountering Unknown Contexts Examining Teaching Strategies That Influence Participation Strategies for Facilitating Multilingual Learners’ Participation in Mathematics Thinking About Participation in Your Practice Facilitate Partnerships Between Multilingual Learners and Their Peers Solving a Mathematics Problem with A Partner Solving a Mathematics Problem with A Partner Qualities of Partnerships Strategies for Facilitating Partnerships Establish Participation Norms With Students Practice Compliments Provide Concrete Resources Pay Attention To Pairing Monitor How Partners Work Revisit Partnership Norms With Student Thinking About Partnerships in Your Practice Engage Multilingual Learners Through Culturally-Relevant Contexts Reflecting on the Challenge of Contexts and Culture What the Research Says About Contexts in Mathematics Strategies for Engaging Multilingual Learners Through Culturally-Meaningful Contexts Thinking about Contexts in your Practice Reach Multilingual Learners with Visuals, Illustrations, and Gestures What Research Says About Visuals and Gestures Using Visuals Strategically Examining Ms. Bristow’s Use of Visuals: Dividing Cookies Examining Ms. Bristow’s Use of Visuals: Emphasizing the Meaning of ‘Loose’ Emphasizing Mathematical Connections Reflecting on Your Use of Gestures Using Gestures Strategically Examining Ms. Bristow’s Use of Gestures: Obstacle Course Examining Ms. Bristow’s Strategic Use of Visuals and Gestures: Columns and Rows Thinking About Visuals and Gestures in Your Practice Strategies for Using Visuals and Gestures Analyze Mathematical Work of Multilingual Learners Reflecting on Your Experiences What Research Says About Analyzing Multilingual Learners’ Mathematical Work What Research Says About Analyzing Multilingual Learners’ Mathematical Work Analyzing Additional Student Work Strategies for Discerning Between Mathematical and Language Issues Examining Abigail’s Work Examining Janessa’s Work The Importance of Interviewing Multilingual Learners Thinking About Analyzing Multilingual Learner’s Mathematical Work in Your Practice Investigate Meanings to Enhance Multilingual Learners’ Language Development The Importance of Academic Language for Multilingual Learners What the Research Says About Academic Language Distinguishing Between Multiple Meanings of Language Introducing Specialized Mathematics Language Amplified Use of Academic Language Strategies for Enhance Multilingual Learners’ Language Development Thinking About Academic Language in Your Practice Use Your Discourse Strategically to Enhance Multilingual Learners’ Opportunity to Learn Reflecting on Varieties of English that Influence Discourse What Research Says About Discourse Teacher Discourse Connecting Academic Language to Mathematical Representations Posing Questions to Engage Multilingual Learners Posing Questions to Engage Multilingual Learners Strategies for Promoting Classroom Discourse Thinking About Your Discourse in Your Practice Foster a Culture of Writing in the Mathematics Classroom Reflecting on Your Experiences What Research Says About Writing in Mathematics Establishing a Need to Write in Mathematics Establishing a Culture of Writing Providing Feedback on Students’ Writing Analyzing Students’ Writing Strategies for Fostering a Culture of Writing in Your Mathematics Classroom Reflecting on Mathematical Writing in Your Practice Develop Writing in Mathematics for Multilingual Learners Reflecting on Your Practice Mathematical Genres of Writing What the Research Says about Mathematical Genres Identifying Mathematical Writing Genres Strategies for Developing Writing in Mathematics for Multilingual Learners Teaching Practices Activities Reflecting on Your Use of Mathematical Genres in Your Practice Enhance Curriculum Materials for Multilingual Learners Reflecting on Mathematics Curriculum What Research Says About Curriculum Enhancement for Multilingual Learners Strategies for Crafting Language to Better Support Multilingual Learners Analyzing Curriculum Materials for Multilingual Learners Research Recommendations for Enacting Mathematics Curriculum Recognizing Different Mathematical Conventions and Representations Thinking about Mathematical Conventions and Representations in your Practice Thinking about Curriculum Enhancement in your Practice Engage with Parents and Families of Multilingual Learners Reflecting on Your Experiences What the Research Says about Multilingual Parent and Family Engagement Multicultural Parenting Styles Cultural Values Emphasizing the Value of Family in Your Classroom Examining Teachers’ and Multilingual Parents’ Expectations Reframing Multilingual Parental Engagement Strategies for Facilitating Multilingual Family and Parent Engagement in Your Classroom Reflecting on Family Engagement in Your Practice Appendix A. Additional Resources Appendix B. Selected Solutions References

About the Author :
Kathryn B. Chval, Ph.D., is the Dean of the College of Education at the University of Missouri. She is a Professor of Mathematics Education and holds the Joanne H. Hook Dean's Chair in Educational Renewal. Chval began her career teaching in elementary schools. Her commitment to educational solutions in mathematics education is rooted in her early experiences in under-resourced schools in the U.S. Her research focuses on effective preparation models and support structures for mathematics and science teachers, effective elementary mathematics teaching for English language learners, and curriculum standards and policies. She is an expert on teacher education, curriculum development, and the study of effective learning environments. Chval has authored or co-authored more than 70 publications and made numerous presentations. Her leadership, research, and service have been recognized with several awards and honors, including the 2018 TODOS Iris M. Carl Leadership and Equity Award. Erin Smith, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the School of Education at The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, MS. She is a member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, TODOS: Mathematics for ALL, and the American Educational Research Association. Her research focuses on increasing access to high quality mathematics education for emergent multilinguals, specifically in elementary grades. She has contributed to chapters in Access and Equity: Promoting High-Quality Mathematics in Grades 3-5 and Toward Equity and Social Justice in Mathematics Education. In addition, she has multiple articles under review at peer-reviewed research and practitioner journals. Lina Trigos-Carrillo, Ph.D., is the Chair of the Department of Psychology of Education and Development of Universidad de la Sabana in Colombia. She obtained a Ph.D. in Learning, Teaching and Curriculum with an emphasis on Literacy Education from the University of Missouri. Her research focuses on critical sociocultural perspectives to writing and community/family literacy of minorities and emergent bilinguals across the Americas. In her prior post-doctoral position in the SEE-TEL project, she facilitated parent engagement initiatives, professional development, and program evaluation. Rachel J. Pinnow, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the College of Education at the University of Missouri in Columbia. She is a member of the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL). Her research focuses on second language acquisition, classroom interaction, multimodal communication and analysis, and social semiotics. She has contributed to peer-reviewed research journals such as Linguistics and Education, Anthropology & Education Quarterly, Mathematics Education Research Journal, Journal of Teaching for Excellence and Equity in Mathematics, and practitioner journals such as the Teaching Children Mathematics. In addition, she has contributed to chapters in Access and Equity: Promoting High-Quality Mathematics in Grades 3-5 and Common Core State Standards in Mathematics for English Language Learners: Grades K-8.

Review :
Kathryn Chval and her colleagues exquisitely give the readers opportunities to see inside a classroom with multilingual students, develop empathy, and deeply understand effective practice. The book’s engaging format provides questions for reflection and strategies to try out, connects research to practice, and compels readers to position students for success. This is the book I’ve been waiting for! It is powerful. It brings together often-separate critical ideas for teaching multilingual students and weaves them with in-depth explorations of classrooms. We meet remarkable teachers, whose success we can learn from, which will help us reimagine what’s possible. A must-read! This book is an excellent resource to closely examine mathematics instruction that affirms multilingual learners’ identities, competencies, and growth as learners of mathematics. Far too often multilingual children and their families are positioned in deficit ways that lead to limited learning. This book does the opposite. It seamlessly blends practice and research for a comprehensive look at exemplary mathematics teaching that leverages children’s multiple linguistic, cultural, and mathematical strengths. The book offers practical tools and guidance to enhance mathematics instruction, nurture student relationships, and create strong partnerships with families to support and advance multilingual learners in mathematics. This book goes beyond the typical support of the academic language of mathematics for English learners. It provides an in-depth perspective on being more culturally inclusive of English learners and allows educators to reflect on their instructional methodologies in mathematics. This book celebrates the brilliance of multilingual learners while also providing evidence-based strategies for teachers. The included cases and activities provide a solid foundation for teachers’ growth and exploration into teaching mathematics with multilingual students. This book will help teachers and teacher educators engage in meaningful and humane mathematics instruction with students. This inspiring volume provides resources for mathematics teachers to support mathematics learning for English learners. Using four central principles—assets, empathy, practice, and research—to base the strategies and an impressive array of materials, including student work, the volume illustrates multiple approaches to providing English learners with opportunities to learn important mathematics with understanding. Teaching Math to Multilingual Students, Grades K–8: Positioning English Learners for Success takes an asset-based approach toward developing multilingual learners in the classroom. This book clearly demonstrates the nuances of analyzing the mathematical work of multilingual learners while providing examples and strategies for giving useful feedback that is applicable to all learners. Fostering a culture of writing in the mathematics classroom is explicitly taught through a variety of strategies, activities, and teacher practices. Topics such as culturally relevant contexts, crafting language, and family involvement serve to round out this text and provide teachers with a solid resource to support multilingual learners in a layered, thoughtful way. Wondering how to support multilingual learners beyond broad, generic suggestions? This book is it! Through true vignettes, transcripts, pictures, and videos, these authors literally show how to support multilingual learners, while engaging you in developing your own capacities to do so. The chapter on positioning learners as leaders is a must-read for every educator! I can’t wait to use this book in my work with students and teachers. This book is an excellent resource for opening doors of access to mathematics for multilingual students, particularly those multilingual students who are, in the authors’ words, ‘silent spectators’ of classroom lessons. Teaching Math to Multilingual Students, Grades K–8 offers strategies and resources that are both research-based and tried, personalized, and polished in real classrooms. The images from those classrooms are compelling, underscoring the importance of an asset-based mentality in teaching multilingual students. This book is a must-have for anyone working with multilingual learners in mathematics. The authors push the reader to reflect through questions and prompts and to take action by trying out the strategies suggested. The authors’ deep respect for and asset-based view of multilingual students and their mathematical ideas are evident throughout the whole book. Of particular note is the attention paid to the role of families in the mathematics education of multilingual learners. This groundbreaking book offers practical, research-informed strategies and activities that support all learners. Chval and her colleagues’ innovative approach positions multilingual learners as potential classroom leaders in challenging mathematics learning. Even newcomers to English are invited to draw on all their meaning-making resources to participate in the mathematics classroom. This book provides a powerful tool for teachers as they engage multilanguage learners in language and mathematics. Each chapter is a wonderful compilation of research and practice that unpacks the strategies that will empower teachers to build upon the unique strengths and knowledge that multilingual students bring to the classroom.