Literacy and Inquiry/Research Skills
Literacy skills can play an important role in student success in mathematics. Many of the activities
and tasks students undertake in mathematics involve the use of written, oral, and visual
communication skills. For example, students use language to record their observations, to
explain their reasoning when solving problems, to describe their inquiries in both informal
and formal contexts, and to justify their results in small-group conversations, oral presentations,
and written reports. The language of mathematics includes special terminology. The study of
mathematics consequently encourages students to use language with greater care and precision
and enhances their ability to communicate effectively.
Some of the literacy strategies that can be helpful to students as they learn mathematics include
the following: reading strategies that help students build vocabulary and improve their ability
to navigate textbooks; writing strategies that help students sort ideas and information in order
to make connections, identify relationships, and determine possible directions for their thinking
and writing; and oral communication strategies that help students communicate in smallgroup
and whole-class discussions. Further advice for integrating literacy instruction into
mathematics instruction in the intermediate grades may be found in the following resource
documents:
• Think Literacy: Cross-Curricular Approaches, Grades 7–12, 2003
• Think Literacy: Cross-Curricular Approaches, Grades 7–12 – Mathematics: Subject-Specific
Examples, Grades 7–9, 2004
As they solve problems, students develop their ability to ask questions and to plan investigations
to answer those questions and to solve related problems. In their work in the Data
Management and Probability strand, students learn to apply a variety of inquiry and research
methods as they solve statistical problems. Students also learn how to locate relevant information
from a variety of sources such as statistical databases, newspapers, and reports