One of the strengths of the Making Sense of Problem Solving program is that it gives teachers tools to provide differentiation for the wide range of student abilities in a classroom. The multiple Warm Ups assist students struggling with particular concepts. The Problem Solving Tasks allow students to engage in the problem from multiple entry points. The Extensions allow teachers to challenge their high-end students.

One more advantage we will examine more closely in this newsletter is the opportunity present in problem-based materials to improve the use of English as students with limited English proficiency work to communicate about their mathematical processes and strategies. Developing habits of explaining their thinking can greatly help students in mastering the language and vocabulary of mathematics and at the same time remove obstacles to their success in mathematics.

It is easy to use language standards to enhance students’ access to the mathematics curriculum. You can locate the English Language Proficiency (ELP) Standards for your state through a web search*. We have referenced the ELP Standards for Oregon** in this article. Here are a few examples using the Preview Samples available on the Teacher to Teacher (TTT) website (www.teachertoteacher.com):

TTT Grade 1 Place Value Penguin unit on Number and Operations

 - Beginning Level Language objective — “Gesturing to pictures.” Referencing the Warm Up 3 Activity, Teacher says, “Point to the tens; point to the ones.”
 - Early Intermediate Language objective — “They use... simple sentences which include subject and predicate.” Referencing the Warm Up 3 Activity, Teacher asks, “How many rocks are there?” (Expects students to respond with a simple complete sentence.)

TTT Grade 3 Brownies unit on Number and Operations and Geometry

 - Early Intermediate Language objective — “Use gestures and more than one drawing or picture to explain/describe the topic.” Referencing the Problem Solving Task (PST), Teacher says, “Show how you know the pieces are equivalent.” (Expects labeled drawings.)

- Intermediate Language objective — “They respond in more complex sentences... using newly acquired vocabulary...” Referencing the PST, Teacher says, “ Explain how you know the pieces are equivalent.” (Expects students to respond with complete sentences.)