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Growing confident through language

Rosy Wilkinson
Christies Beach Primary School
Noarlunga Cluster

Millie, a year 5 student, used to appear shy and was reluctant to ask questions when she didn’t understand a task or concept. She is now very confident in asking for help or in answering questions and is always eager to share her thinking and successes in mathematics.

This is a transcript showing Millie’s understanding and use of technical language at the end of a task that introduced adding fractions with common denominators.

Teacher: Tell me about the 5 halves.

Millie: 5 halves is an improper fraction.

Teacher: How do you know that 5 halves is an improper fraction?

Millie: Well, it’s not a usual fraction.

Teacher: How do we know it’s improper?

Millie: Because…the numerator is higher than the denominator.

Teacher: What have you changed your improper fraction into?

Millie: I turned it into a mixed number.

Teacher: What’s your mixed number?

Millie: 2 wholes and 1 half.

Teacher: That’s right 2 and a half.

This inspiring story connects to:

Finding 3.3 Language
Explicitly teach learners mathematical language and symbols so they can articulate and represent what, how and why they are learning and understanding.

Finding 5.3: Metacognition
Help students recognise what they know well, what they need help with and what they still need to learn.

Finding 5.4: Feedback
Provide feedback that is timely and promotes success in future learning.

Want to read more from Rosy?

Check out her inspiring story written with her principal Whole of site commitment II