How to Read a Maths Question TOD

Getting students to reread a text is often the first step. Many of our students just do not engage in this strategy. Encouraging students to apply their word attack skills is also a simple yet important step. This means students take their time to look at the context of a word for which they don't know the meaning.
Firstly, students have to ask, what do I already know about the topic. Tuatara, eggs, etc. Next, as they reread the sentence in context, students read what comes before and after the hard or unknown word, e.g. breeding.
Remind students of the mantra, Don't Panic. You're encouraging students to use a variety of reading speeds and strategies as they try to comprehend the question. Our students have these skills, but they tend to give up easily.
Lastly, explain that the structure of a maths question is the opposite of most other paragraphs. The topic comes first, then details are added, but the most important information comes last. These are the instructions, the imperatives, and the interrogatives, such as: calculate, find, how much, etc. Make students aware that being able to find these features in a maths question is an essential life skill as well as an important comprehension skill.
Tell students that comprehension doesn't happen automatically; understanding a text is a task to be undertaken by using comprehension strategies. Completing a maths problem is a goal; comprehending a maths problem is also a goal.
Comprehension is a complex process, make students aware of this aspect of their education.

CAA Study Class US 32405 Write texts to communicate ideas and information

CAA intensive study classes were offered to Yr 11 and Yr12s in preperation for the exam. The focus here was on how to structure an email or an article for a website

Using an Information Transfer to read a CAA Writing Question

Sleep Yr 11 Corequisite Achievement Standard US 32405 Writing

32405 Write texts to communicate ideas and information This is a literacy treatment of a model answer for US32405. The focus here is to show students the language forms students must master in order to write a credible respone to a CAA writing question. The marking rubric is used to give students a pass or fail grade. The rubric covers: Content, Language Choices, Structure and Accuracy. This Functional Grammar approach helps students go beyound the level of the writing frame as a guide.

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