One way that you could have students write in Math is to create "do nows" that require students to solve the math problem, but then write a paragraph explaining how you would teach someone else to solve the math problem that they just solved. It kills two birds with one stone because it allows the student to practice writing their mathematical reasoning, but it also allows the teacher to determine misunderstandings, areas of strength or weaknesses, and content that may need to be retaught.

One way to have students write in math is for them to create instructions for a math concept - kind of like a "how to..." book. You can pose it as a question such as "How would you teach someone to add? Write a paragraph about it. You could also have students look at math problems and evaluate what the student did wrong. This is not only a great way to get writing in, but it also evaluates their understanding of the concepts.

One way I get in writing during math is have students write down a one-step or two-step addition and/or subtraction problem in their journals. Then the students must solve it by "showing their work". This can be done by drawing circle counters, cubes/squares, drawing other forms of pictures, etc. Next, the students have to explain how their drawings helped them solve the problem. The last thing the students have to do is write a number sentence to go along with their drawings and answer. I have also used their journals to introduce a topic that I am about to teach in math. For example, to introduce 2 dimensional shapes, I had the students get out their journals to write down all of the 2-D shapes they could think of (circle, square, rectangle, triangle, oval, diamond)- this allowed the students to write on the particular math topic, and it also allowed me to see whether or not I would need to spend more time on 2-D shapes. Since nearly all of my students could name those shapes in their journals, I could cut down the instruction time on 2-D shapes and move on to 3-D shapes.

We have a math writing center as part of our daily math. Sometimes this involve student writing out their thinking. Other times, they have to write word problems to match equations, and other times they have to write definitions in their own terms. There are a lot of great websites with ideas as well. I usually use them when creating my weekly centers.

So many times students say, "I know how to do it, but I just can't explain it." To me that screams, "I have no clue how I just worked that problem!" I truly believe if a student can explain how to work out a problem AND write it out, step-by-step, then that student truly understands the skill. I think math journals and discussing the math journal entry with a partner will really stress the importance of their math skills as well as their writing abilities.

All of my tasks have questions that ask my students to explain their answers. Just giving me the number answer is not good enough. They have to be able to explain the answer to me. You can also ask the students to write their own word problems that match the standards you are teaching.