Writing in Mathematics

Teaching students to communicate mathematically is essential if you wish to raise any standardized test scores. The last few years I have tried to include more justify your response questions into my classroom. Why? When a student can communicate their mathematical ideas clearly many positive things occur - it deepens the meaning of the concepts they are learning, it helps students retain information, and it strengthens their use of proper mathematical vocabulary and proper notation. Of course, students struggle with writing their mathematical explanations. It is important that the classroom teacher not give up on this endeavor. To help the students, model the written communication on a regular basis. I have found studying and analyzing responses to released state test questions and released AP questions have assisted me and my students greatly.