Using children’s texts to support multilingual students’ math identity and problem-solving -

Abstract

Early years (5 to 8 years) to middle primary years (8 to 11 years)

This session will focus on using elementary-age children’s texts that highlight bilingual characters and/or communities and explore math concepts. Session participants will work in small groups to explore different children’s texts about fractions and reflect on ways to use these texts to encourage math conversations in any language and support students’ math identities. Participants will leave with a comprehensive annotated bibliography, ideas for home-school connections, and books used in the session will be raffled.

This workshop will provide hands-on opportunities to explore and engage with multicultural books, focused on fractions, that promote language and math identity development. The books are appropriate for students in year 0 to year 6 and many are bilingual or feature bilingual characters. This work is grounded in Yosso’s (2005) Community Cultural Wealth framework which values our multilingual students’ and families' linguistic and familial cultural wealth.

Participants will work in grade-level groups with guiding questions focussed on how the books can facilitate authentic mathematical discourse where multilingual students can clarify and negotiate their thinking. Participants will be provided access to a list of books that highlight bilingual characters and/or communities and explore math concepts. Each book listed includes a summary and recommended questions/activities to engage students in conversations. This guide can be used by both teachers and families to encourage math conversations in any language.