Doing Math the Routty Way: Engaging Activities from A to Z (Day 9)

Journals- Math journals are a great assessment tool for evaluating your students’ understanding of a specific skill or concept. They also strengthen your students’ writing and communication skills within the context of a mathematical situation or problem. In addition, regular use of math journals will allow you to evaluate your students’ progress over time and provide you with an excellent portfolio of student work for ARD meetings or parent conferences.

The picture below is a sample journal entry and response. 

After assigning a journal entry, I use the math journal rubric (see picture below) to help me assign a grade for each journal entry. You can find a copy of the rubric here or by clicking on the "Engaging Math Activities" link of the "File Cabinet" on my blog. 

In addition, I have created a Math Journal Rubric & Scoring Guide where I provide details about how to set-up math journals, general guidelines for implementing journals, and work samples to help you use math journals in your classroom. It is available here or at my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.