Concrete actions for mathematics educators: focus on ideas over words, engage students in defining early, connect multiple representations, extend to formal definitions, and nurture the genre of definition¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The brief closes with concrete, specific actions mathematics educators can take when planning learning opportunities for English Learners: think about the mathematical ideas rather than the words, choose a working definition that maximizes access without giving away what students could discover; engage students early in generating and continually refining working criteria; create activities connecting multiple representations to uncover relationships; invite students to extend to more formal definitions; and nurture students' understanding of the genre of definition in mathematics as a deductive discipline.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Educators must plan opportunities where students generate and refine working definitions rather than receiving formal definitions first.

Constraints¶

Target Learners¶

• secondary English Learners

Target Learning Goals¶

• deep exploration of mathematical ideas
• developing formal definitions and deductive reasoning

Related Strategies¶

• Clarify Vocabulary, Symbols, and Language Structures
• Explicit Vocabulary Instruction
• Front Loading Vocabulary
• Vocabulary Pre Teaching
• Alphabet Books
• Learning Logs
• Three educator actions to challenge and support English Learners with equivalence: maintain the challenge, structure activity, and draw attention to approaches

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Chu, H., Tran, T., & Hamburger, L. (2022). Redefining approaches for engaging English Learners with mathematical ideas. WestEd. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED625747