Why Students
Should Write in Math Class
Writing should be an integral part of teaching all subjects. Writing
is used as a tool to help students think about ideas.
Progress has been slow in the area of writing in mathematics.
Mathematics is seen as a subject that communicates through the manipulation of
symbols in orderly ways, not as one that uses words to express ideas.
This view is unfortunate - and misleading.
The process of writing requires gathering, organizing, and clarifying thoughts. It demands finding out what you know and don't know. It calls for thinking clearly. Similarly, doing mathematics depends on gathering, organizing, and clarifying thoughts, finding out what you know and don't know, and thinking clearly. Although the final representation of a mathematical pursuit looks very different from the final product of a writing effort, the mental journey is, at its base, the same - making sense of an idea and presenting it effectively.
Writing can assist math instruction in two ways - by helping
children make sense of mathematics and by helping teachers understand what
children are learning.
Adapted from