EDMA 511 - Supporting Literacy Skills in the Elementary Math Classroom

Teaching mathematics in the elementary classroom (grades K-5) is markedly different today than it was in the past. New expectations for students and new understandings about how they learn have necessitated changes in instructional practices. Today, we know that math must be developmentally appropriate and accessible for young students, and the process of learning math content must also hone their literacy, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills.

In this course, you’ll explore strategies for integrating literacy into your math instruction to support the meaningful engagement of your students, including early readers and nonreaders. You’ll learn techniques for adjusting your math curriculum and instruction to accommodate different ability levels, focusing on how to develop your students’ math and literacy skills as you work with those who struggle with math-related anxiety, learning disabilities, or a lack of challenging content. You’ll also acquire tools for promoting collaborative problem-solving among your students. In addition, you’ll cultivate resources you can use across your curriculum to make mathematical concepts tangible to your students.

Using the resources and techniques from this course, you’ll be able to design and implement math instruction that develops your students’ math and literacy skills regardless of their learning needs.

NOTE: If you have taken the Advancement Courses online course, Math Literacy for Successful Classrooms, we advise you not to take this course, as its contents are similar. You may, instead, take one of our other courses in Math.