Mathematics · reasoning · representations
Disciplinary Literacy for Mathematics
A focused professional-learning page for math teachers on how students read problems, symbols, equations, figures, worked examples, and mathematical explanations.
Start with the Ohio course companion, watch the video, then choose one math-specific support: vocabulary relationships, multiple representations, sentence frames, or error analysis.
Playable video and right-side resources
Support students as mathematical readers, writers, and problem solvers.
The video centers on the Simple View of Reading, then shows how mathematical comprehension depends on precision, vocabulary relationships, representations, and discussion around correct and incorrect solutions.
Supporting Mathematics Literacy
Ohio Literacy Academy on Demand videoMathematical reading asks students to combine decoding with number sense, symbols, precision, calculation, and reasoning. The video emphasizes that math vocabulary is often highly precise and frequently polysemous, and that students benefit from multiple representations, vocabulary relationship work, sentence frames, and discussion around worked examples.
- Math terms often have everyday meanings and precise technical meanings; make the specialized meaning explicit.
- Multiple representations count as texts: equations, diagrams, tables, apps, data, figures, and worked solutions.
- Correct and incorrect worked examples can lower cognitive load and create room for explanation, discussion, and metacognition.
Department reflection
- Which words in your next unit are familiar in everyday language but precise in mathematics?
- Where could students compare two representations of the same idea?
- Which worked example or common error would create useful discussion without overwhelming calculation demands?
Suggested use
Turn the video into one concrete classroom move.
A good starting point is to select one upcoming problem set or unit and decide which literacy demand students are most likely to miss: a word meaning, a representation, a symbol, or the reasoning behind a solution.
Identify the exact thing students must read: a word problem, a diagram, a data display, a proof, a formula, or a worked solution.
Use the right-side links while watching. Open the Frayer, prefix/suffix, sentence-frame, or error-analysis resource when that example appears in the video.
Choose one term, one representation pair, or one incorrect worked example and build a short classroom task around it.
Source credit: Ohio Literacy Academy / ReadOhio / Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. This page embeds or links to source materials and companion classroom resources rather than hosting mirrored copies. Resource links are placed next to the relevant video so a content-area teacher can watch, reflect, and open the most useful tools from one place.