Layout 1

Communication Board

Materials

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Description

Increasingly, teachers are focused on the language of math and are encouraging students to talk and write about the meaning behind their work and discuss different ways to solve problems. For students who do not communicate easily or reliably or for those who are just more successful when they have prompts and visuals to support discussions, a math communication board may be helpful.

Example

Eric, a fourth-grade student with multiple disabilities, used a math communication board during all small-group activities. During a probability game, for instance, he used your

use of the symbols across activities will undoubtedly help learners who do need help to learn to communicate faster and in a more complex way.

Directions

Math is one of those subject areas in which vocabulary does not change drastically throughout the year and few new terms are introduced from week to week (depending on the grade). For this reason, it is sometimes easier to create a master communication board of all of the math vocabulary.

Reference/ Recommended Reading

Silbey, R. (2003). Math out loud! Heard the word? Talking and writing about math boosts understanding in a big way. Instructor, 112, 24–26.

Vendor

DynaVox Mayer-Johnson

http://www.mayer-johnson.com DynaVox Mayer-Johnson is the manufacturer of Boardmaker software products. This web site contains descriptions of and information about the Boardmaker family of products. Boardmaker allows a user to create printed materials using Picture Communication Symbols and other graphics.

Web Site

Council for Exceptional Children

http://www.cec.sped.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&CONTENTID=7015&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm Ideas for teaching math to students with disabilities.