Using Math Songs to Teach Language Development

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The other day we mentioned in a post that songs, poems and chants can be used to simultaneously develop language as well as mathematical concepts with students who are learning English. We linked to a couple of "math poems" books that have poems that can be utilized with students in order to develop language and literacy. You can find the post by clicking here.

Integrating poems, songs and chants support language and literacy development with students who are highly musical, kinesthetic, linguistic and verbal. Students often know how to solve basic skills problems, but often have difficulties on standardized math tests because many tests also focus on the language and vocabulary that is associated with math. Integrating poems and songs helps students practice mathematical vocabulary, as well as assists musically and verbally inclined students with memory recall of mathematical facts.

To make it easier for teachers, we have been scouring the web for math songs and poems and found thousands of math songs for children on Amazon. We have been working hard to categorize them for elementary-level teachers into mathematical concepts. These songs are easily downloadable and are automatically downloaded into your itunes or windows media player. In the near future, we will also include some regular math compact discs in the ELD Strategies store.

Tips for Using Math Songs in the Classroom
When using a math song in the classroom, it would be beneficial to write out the words to the song on chart paper. We recommend playing the song once so that students will hear the rhythm and cadence. After listening to the song once, teachers can turn students' attention to the chart paper with the words and read the song with students. Teachers may elect to include pictures or sketches next to words on the chart paper, or may highlight key vocabulary words with a highlighter. Next, teachers can play the song again, using a pointer with the chart paper so that students can visually follow along with the words as the song is being sung.

The song can also be typed and copied for students to take home to practice. Typing up the songs on paper for students to read independently aids in reading fluency, decoding and vocabulary development. Teachers can include multiple songs on the same topic in order to provide English learners with multiple exposures to similar vocabulary words in different contexts. Typing up the words to the songs for students to read are a cost-effective way to include reading practice and language development through the study of math.

Check out the following songs, which have brief excerpts that you can listen to:

General Math Songs
Addition Songs
Counting Songs
Subtraction Songs
Multiplication Songs
Division Songs
Geometry Songs
Shapes Songs
Songs About Telling Time
Songs About Clocks
Place Value Songs
Measurement Songs
Days of the Week Songs
Calendar Songs

We plan on adding additional topics and themes soon, so stay tuned!
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Teaching Math to English Learners

As a teacher it was hard enough for me to teach math to young students, let alone teaching math to students at the lower levels of proficiency in English. As I became more skilled in teaching math, I learned that I was just teaching math in a "memorization" type of way and the main issue as to why students were unable to attain long-term mastery of mathematical concepts was because I was not teaching them conceptually in an in-depth manner.

Teachers must remember that English learners who are acquiring a second language have a double burden: they must keep up with grade level content at the same time that they are acquiring a second language. Not only do students need practice with mathematical skills, they also must learn the mathematical vocabulary and grammatical/language structures of the mathematics content area.

One way that teachers can expose students to mathematical vocabulary is through the use of songs, poems and chants. Teachers can create their own basic chants and rhymes with well-known, traditional songs for children. For teachers who might not be musically or poetically inclined, there are also a variety of books that have songs, poems, and chants for students about mathematical concepts, such as:

• Marvelous Math: A Book of Poems
• Circle Time Poetry Math
• Math Poetry: Linking Language and Math in a Fresh Way

Students who have authentic, meaningful practice with mathematical vocabulary and concepts through the fun use of chants, songs, and poems will be more inclined to store mathematical vocabulary and concepts in their long-term memory.

An additional way to develop language and math in a simultaneous way is to integrate literature and non-fiction books that contain mathematical vocabulary, concepts or real-life use of math. In the upcoming months, we will be creating a '"teaching math to English learners" section to the main ELDStrategies.com website where we will review many literature and non-fiction books that are recommended for using with English learners. In the meantime, you can also find some recommended titles in the ELD Strategies store by clicking here.

You can find additional resources for teaching mathematics to English learners from kindergarten through high school, as well as poems and some recommended children books in the ELD Strategies store.

Happy New Year!
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Webinar: Making Math Accessible to English Learners

The Wested Organization will be having a live webinar about making mathematics accessible and comprehensible to English learners on December 2, 2009 between 10:30-12:00 PST. The webinar is applicable for teachers in the upper elementary grades through high school, although I am sure that teachers in the primary grades would also benefit from the discussion. The two presenters will be Cathy Caroll and John Carr. I don't know much about Cathy Carroll, but I do know that John Carr was one of the creators of the Wested Map of ELD Standards, which helped with an alignment of the English language arts and English language development standards in California.

Interested participants can join the webinar online or via teleconference. The webinar will discuss how to use multiple ELD and SDAIE strategies in order to differentiate for students who are various levels of English proficiency levels in the mathematics classroom.

Even if you don't have any English learners in your classroom, you might find this webinar useful! It is not often that we have an opportunity to learn about strategies and differentiation for teaching mathematics instruction.

The information in the webinar will be based on Wested's book "Making Mathematics Accessible to English Learners: A Guidebook for Teachers". You can purchase the book in the ELD Strategies bookstore by clicking here.

If you would like to attend the webinar, please visit Wested's informational page. If you are unable to attend the webinar, we will post at a later time if Wested uploads a copy of the webinar to their website archives.

Additional Resources About Teaching Mathematics to English Learners:
The SIOP Model for Teaching Mathematics to English Learners
English Learners in the Mathematics Classroom
Supporting English Language Learners in Math Class (K-2)
Support English Language Learners in Math Class (Grades 3-5)
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