Page 38 - The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 11 and 12: Mathematics, 2007

THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 11 AND 12 | Mathematics
Teachers should have high expectations for all students. To achieve their mathematical potential, however, different students may need different kinds of support. Some boys, for example, may need additional support in developing their literacy skills in order to complete mathematical tasks effectively. For some girls, additional encouragement to envision themselves in careers involving mathematics may be beneficial. For example, teachers might consider providing strong role models in the form of female guest speak- ers who are mathematicians or who use mathematics in their careers.
LITERACY AND INQUIRY/RESEARCH SKILLS
Literacy skills can play an important role in student success in mathematics courses. Many of the activities and tasks students undertake in mathematics courses 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.
The Ministry of Education has facilitated the development of materials to support literacy instruction across the curriculum. Helpful advice for integrating literacy instruction in mathematics courses 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 10–12, 2005
In all courses in mathematics, students will develop their ability to ask questions and to plan investigations to answer those questions and to solve related problems. Students need to learn a variety of research methods and inquiry approaches in order to carry out these investigations and to solve problems, and they need to be able to select the methods that are most appropriate for a particular inquiry. Students learn how to locate relevant information from a variety of sources, such as statistical databases, newspapers, and reports. As they advance through the grades, students will be expected to use such sources with increasing sophistication. They will also be expected to distinguish between primary and secondary sources, to determine their validity and relevance, and to use them in appropriate ways.
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