Many, if not most, American high school students have a difficult time with mathematics. The question becomes why. When comparing the math abilities of incoming foreign-born students with native-born students, one apparent distinct difference was that the foreign-born students were becoming bilingual as they were studying math in school. The foreign-born students had to learn the alphabet to form words in English. Does mathematics have an alphabet, and if it does, how is it used to form mathematical sentences? Is there a correlation between the two because mathematics is considered to be the universal language? The germination of that idea is the rationale for this effort.

Do word problems and math vocabulary confuse students in your mathematics classes? Do simple keywords like "value" and "portion" seem to mislead them? Many words that students already know can have a different meaning in mathematics. To grasp that difference, students need to connect English literacy skills to math. Successful students speak, read, write, and listen to each other so they can understand, retain, and apply mathematics concepts. This book explains how to use 10 classroom-ready literacy strategies in concert with your mathematics instruction. You’ll learn how to develop students who are able to explain to themselves - and communicate to others - what problems mean and how to attack them. Embedding these strategies in your instruction will help your students gain the literacy skills required to achieve the eight Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. You’ll discover the best answer to their question, "When am I ever going to use this?" The 10 Strategies: 1. Teaching mathematical words explicitly 2. Teaching academic words implicitly 3. Reinforcing reading comprehension skills that apply to mathematics 4. Teaching mathematics with metaphor and gesture 5. Unlocking the meaning of word problems 6. Teaching note-taking skills for mathematics 7. Using language-based formative assessment in mathematics 8. Connecting memorization to meaning in mathematics 9. Incorporating writing-to-learn activities in mathematics 10. Preparing students for algebraic thinking

Do word problems and math vocabulary confuse students in your mathematics classes? Do simple keywords like "value" and "portion" seem to mislead them? Many words that students already know can have a different meaning in mathematics. To grasp that difference, students need to connect English literacy skills to math. Successful students speak, read, write, and listen to each other so they can understand, retain, and apply mathematics concepts. This book explains how to use 10 classroom-ready literacy strategies in concert with your mathematics instruction. You’ll learn how to develop students who are able to explain to themselves - and communicate to others - what problems mean and how to attack them. Embedding these strategies in your instruction will help your students gain the literacy skills required to achieve the eight Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. You’ll discover the best answer to their question, "When am I ever going to use this?" The 10 Strategies: 1. Teaching mathematical words explicitly 2. Teaching academic words implicitly 3. Reinforcing reading comprehension skills that apply to mathematics 4. Teaching mathematics with metaphor and gesture 5. Unlocking the meaning of word problems 6. Teaching note-taking skills for mathematics 7. Using language-based formative assessment in mathematics 8. Connecting memorization to meaning in mathematics 9. Incorporating writing-to-learn activities in mathematics 10. Preparing students for algebraic thinking

Technical Math For Dummies is your one-stop, hands-on guide to acing the math courses you’ll encounter as you work toward getting your degree, certification, or license in the skilled trades. You’ll get easy-to-follow, plain-English guidance on mathematical formulas and methods that professionals use every day in the automotive, health, construction, licensed trades, maintenance, and other trades. You’ll learn how to apply concepts of algebra, geometry, and trigonometry and their formulas related to occupational areas of study. Plus, you’ll find out how to perform basic arithmetic operations and solve word problems as they’re applied to specific trades. Maps to a course commonly required by vocational schools, community and technical college, or for certification in the skilled trades Covers the basic concepts of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and trigonometry Helps professionals keep pace with job demands Whether you’re a student currently enrolled in a program or a professional who is already in the work force, Technical Math For Dummies gives you everything you need to improve your math skills and get ahead of the pack.

When you have the right math teacher, learning math can be painless and even fun! Let Basic Math and Pre-Algebra Workbook For Dummies teach you how to overcome your fear of math and approach the subject correctly and directly. A lot of the topics that probably inspired fear before will seem simple when you realize that you can solve math problems, from basic addition to algebraic equations. Lots of students feel they got lost somewhere between learning to count to ten and their first day in an algebra class, but help is here! Begin with basic topics like interpreting patterns, navigating the number line, rounding numbers, and estimating answers. You will learn and review the basics of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Do remainders make you nervous? You’ll find an easy and painless way to understand long division. Discover how to apply the commutative, associative, and distributive properties, and finally understand basic geometry and algebra. Find out how to: Properly use negative numbers, units, inequalities, exponents, square roots, and absolute value Round numbers and estimate answers Solve problems with fractions, decimals, and percentages Navigate basic geometry Complete algebraic expressions and equations Understand statistics and sets Uncover the mystery of FOILing Answer sample questions and check your answers Complete with lists of ten alternative numeral and number systems, ten curious types of numbers, and ten geometric solids to cut and fold, Basic Math and Pre-Algebra Workbook For Dummies will demystify math and help you start solving problems in no time!

An independent book written and self-published by former math teacher and private math tutor Larry Zafran. Students are justified in proclaiming that "math is hard," but there is a specific reason why they feel this way. The author maintains that the struggle can be lessened by following the roadmap presented, but it will take time and effort on the part of the student. Since math is often not properly taught, it is often not properly learned. Anything that hasn't truly been learned, regardless of subject, is "hard." Once the various concepts are more secure, and the student's gaps in understanding have been addressed, math will have been made "a bit easier" as promised by the book's title. However, the book does not imply that learning math is fast, fun, or easy. Most of the book's content is comprised of the roadmap of topics for a student to work through at his/her own pace. Like all paths, it begins at the beginning, in this case starting with a review of basic arithmetic, followed by basic operations, negative numbers, fractions, decimals, percents, and basic probability and statistics. This is the foundation of all math. The space devoted to each topic is proportional to how difficult most students find the topic, as well as how important the topic is in preparation for later math studies. The material is explained conversationally and "in plain English" as promised by the book's subtitle, without talking down to the reader, and without the use of contrived examples or cartoonish illustrations. The book concludes with a chapter on how to effectively study math and improve scores on exams. Like the rest of the book, the chapter takes a unique standpoint on the matter, and offers suggestions which include how to get oneself into the proper mental and emotional mindset for being successful with math.