Teaching Math to Multilingual Students, Grades K-8: Positioning English Learners for Success

Using strengths-based approaches to support development in mathematics 

It’s time to re-imagine what’s possible and celebrate the brilliance multilingual learners bring to today’s classrooms. Innovative teaching strategies can position these learners as leaders in mathematics. Yet, as the number of multilingual learners in North American schools grows, many teachers have not had opportunities to gain the competencies required to teach these learners effectively, especially in disciplines such as mathematics. Multilingual learners―historically called English Language Learners―are expected to interpret the meaning of problems, analyze, make conjectures, evaluate their progress, and discuss and understand their own approaches and the approaches of their peers in mathematics classrooms. Thus, language plays a vital role in mathematics learning, and demonstrating these competencies in a second (or third) language is a challenging endeavor.

Based on best practices and the authors’ years of research, this guide offers practical approaches that equip grades K-8 teachers to draw on the strengths of multilingual learners, partner with their families, and position these learners for success. Readers will find: 

• A focus on multilingual students as leaders
• A strength-based approach that draws on students’ life experiences and cultural backgrounds
• An emphasis on maintaining high expectations for learners’ capacity for mastering rigorous content
• Strategies for representing concepts in different formats 
• Stop and Think questions throughout and reflection questions at the end of each chapter
• Try It! Implementation activities, student work examples, and classroom transcripts

With case studies and activities that provide a solid foundation for teachers’ growth and exploration, this groundbreaking book will help teachers and teacher educators engage in meaningful, humanized mathematics instruction.  

Kathryn B. Chval, Ph.D., is the Dean of the College of Education at the University of Missouri. She is a Professor of Mathematics Education and holds the Joanne H. Hook Dean’s Chair in Educational Renewal. Chval began her career teaching in elementary schools. Her commitment to educational solutions in mathematics education is rooted in her early experiences in under-resourced schools in the U.S. Her research focuses on effective preparation models and support structures for mathematics and science teachers, effective elementary mathematics teaching for English language learners, and curriculum standards and policies. She is an expert on teacher education, curriculum development, and the study of effective learning environments. Chval has authored or co-authored more than 70 publications and made numerous presentations. Her leadership, research, and service have been recognized with several awards and honors, including the 2018 TODOS Iris M. Carl Leadership and Equity Award.

Erin Smith, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the School of Education at The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, MS. She is a member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, TODOS: Mathematics for ALL, and the American Educational Research Association. Her research focuses on increasing access to high quality mathematics education for emergent multilinguals, specifically in elementary grades. She has contributed to chapters in Access and Equity: Promoting High-Quality Mathematics in Grades 3-5 and Toward Equity and Social Justice in Mathematics Education. In addition, she has multiple articles under review at peer-reviewed research and practitioner journals.

Lina Trigos-Carrillo, Ph.D., is the Chair of the Department of Psychology of Education and Development of Universidad de la Sabana in Colombia. She obtained a Ph.D. in Learning, Teaching and Curriculum with an emphasis on Literacy Education from the University of Missouri. Her research focuses on critical sociocultural perspectives to writing and community/family literacy of minorities and emergent bilinguals across the Americas. In her prior post-doctoral position in the SEE-TEL project, she facilitated parent engagement initiatives, professional development, and program evaluation.

 

Rachel J. Pinnow, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the College of Education at the University of Missouri in Columbia. She is a member of the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL). Her research focuses on second language acquisition, classroom interaction, multimodal communication and analysis, and social semiotics. She has contributed to peer-reviewed research journals such as Linguistics and Education, Anthropology & Education Quarterly, Mathematics Education Research Journal, Journal of Teaching for Excellence and Equity in Mathematics, and practitioner journals such as the Teaching Children Mathematics. In addition, she has contributed to chapters in Access and Equity: Promoting High-Quality Mathematics in Grades 3-5 and Common Core State Standards in Mathematics for English Language Learners: Grades K-8.