Module 9 Strategy Application Blog: Writing to Learn

 

Making Content Connections                           

Your Name: Jonathan Miller Date: 06/22/25

Lesson Goal:

Writing to Learn

Content Area:

Math

Specific Topic:

Angle pairs with parallel lines and transversals

Grade

9-10

Estimated Time:

10-15 min

Strategy 

Math Journal: Following a lesson, students will answer the following prompts:


  1. What are all of the different angle relationships we covered in today’s lesson, and how are they different than the ones we covered previously?

  2. Where might you see examples of these angle pairs in real life?

  3. How would you explain what we learned today to your parents this evening?

  4. After completing the lesson, what are you still confused about, or where do you feel you are struggling?

Describe how the strategy is used as a before-during-and/or after-reading activity

(List steps of strategy)

This strategy can best be used either during or after a lesson. If used during the lesson, students can be given a brief amount of time to reflect on a specific example that was just covered. When used after a lesson, it can be used to summarize their comprehension or express confusion. When students are given time to process a lesson and write out their thought process, they are able to build a better understanding of the material. Data taken from student journals and questionnaires shows that students find journaling beneficial to the development of their mathematical learning. (Suhaimi et al, 2016). To implement this strategy in class, it is best to start by having students set a purpose for their writing, such as reflecting on the lesson or explaining their thought process. Then introduce prompts to the students, like the ones listed above, to give them a specific task to work through. Lastly, allow them enough time after a lesson to complete the prompts before collecting them.

Describe how you would incorporate the strategy into a content lesson

(application of strategy)

Students will read the chapter in our textbook on angle pairs that are formed by parallel lines and transversals. Then we will go over a few examples of how to solve different scenarios. Following the reading and examples, and before students begin solving problems on their own, they will be asked to journal about what we have covered. When they complete the journal, I will collect it and evaluate the students’ thought processes and questions. This allows me to review with the entire class the areas where they were struggling. Additionally, the journals can assist with pairing students together when they are working together, so that a stronger student can be paired with someone who is struggling.



This week’s reading showed various methods of how to implement writing to learn into my classroom. One method discussed was quick writes, where students write brief responses to prompts such as “Explain this concept in your own words,” or “What surprised you within this lesson?”. This can be beneficial as it gets students to actively process the new information they have learned and express it differently outside of just solving problems. The Fang and Park article outlined that students need explicit instruction on what academic language is and how it should be used within my math classes. Students do not naturally use this type of language and need to be coached on how to process it when reading and how to use it properly. Lastly, the article by Suhaimi discusses the benefits of math journals in developing students' understanding of new concepts. This strategy improves students' metacognitive abilities by having them self-reflect on their learning and think more deeply about problem solving.


I would like to incorporate math journals and quick writes into my classroom. I think when students reflect on their understanding of new concepts and ask themselves questions about what they do and don’t understand, they can achieve much better results. Quick writes are great for the immediate evaluation of students' thought processes and how well they grasp new material. It is very useful in math classes as we cover several different types of examples that students need to be able to explain how to solve on their own.


I do struggle with determining how long students should be given for students to do these writings. While students need to explain their thought process to show a complete understanding of the material, oftentimes the focus in my classes needs to be more on the process of solving the problems. This is unfortunate because student discussion and writings about math concepts can be extremely beneficial as they move into higher-level thinking.

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