Reading for Meaning

For the past several years, I have looked for resources to implement new strategies into the math classroom that met several different types of learners.  I finally found that resource!  Styles and Strategies for Teaching Middle School: 21 Techniques for Differentiating Instruction and Assessment by Edward J. Thomas and John R. Brunsting (there is also a high school version!)  Both versions are pretty similar but different enough that if you teach both sets of students -- it is worth it to buy both! 

One of the grade levels I was working with was getting ready to work on 6.RP.1-3.  We used Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics by John Van  de Walle to pull some ideas on how to conceptually teach students about ratios.  

After just getting done reading the Styles and Strategies book, I thought this would be a good way to implement one of the things I learned in this book, Reading for Meaning.  The idea is pretty simple but takes students through three distinct and active phases of learning: previewing the statements to call up prior knowledge, searching for information and evidence that supports or refutes each statement, and them looking back on what was learned and reflecting on how initial ideas have changed or evolved.  It was modified a bit from the book to add a taste of PGW into the mix.  This is what the final product looked like:  Reading for Meaning -- Ratios Van De Walle.  This format lead to a great discussion on how to appropriately teach students about ratios. 

One of the 6th grade teachers humored me and let me come in to try the strategy.  We launched the activity with Dan Meyer's Sugar Packets.  Students were engaged in figuring out how many sugar packets were in one soda.  We then split into master groups and each table of 4 watched a short clip from Learn Zillon and decided as a table group what evidence they were citing to support or refute the statement (sample RFM template for activity).  After about 10 minutes, groups then were sent back to their home groups to share out the learning.  Setting a timer (2 minutes) ensured each student shared and then giving students 1 minute to clarify and reflect what they learned.  After all was said and done, students came up to the front and had a great discussion about what they learned in the short amount of time they had to complete the activity.