Running Head: LITERATURE REVIEW 1

Literature Review for Week 1: Domain A

Candee Edgar

National University

November 4, 2018

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for

TED 690 – Capstone Course

Instructor Clifton Johnson

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Abstract

This literature review summarizes an article on mathematics, “Opening the World of

Mathematics: The Daily Math Discussion” by Zoe Donahue which describes how first graders

learn to theorize and explain their thinking by using math discussions. In closing there will be a

correlation with this article to Domain A, Making Subject Matter Comprehensible to Students.
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Literature Review for Week 1: Domain A

My selection of a literature review for week one with its reflection of Domain A is “Opening

the World of Mathematics: The Daily Math Discussion” written by Zoe Donoahue in 2016.

This literature review will also serve as artifact 3 for Domain A. This article includes a detailed

transcript of daily math discussions from first graders who are in Donoahue’s class along with a

description of the daily routines that she has implemented. This article was very appealing to me

because being an unexperienced first grade teacher; I am always searching for effective teaching

strategies which can help me to improve. The article describes the various daily activities that

Donoahue uses in her classroom, provides a vivid description of how these activities are linked

to the Common Core State Standards for mathematics, and points out the importance of

incorporating the daily math discussions to give first graders the opportunity to learn to theorize

and explain their math thinking (Donoahue, 2016, p. 428).

Everyday teachers use discussion as a primary teaching strategy which allows students’

critical thinking to be stimulated. This article falls under teaching strategies, but it also relates to

Domain A in that it gives students a comprehensible way of understanding the mathematics

subject content being presented. The types of routines that Donoahue discusses and utilizes

serve as on-going progress monitoring. The mathematics concepts and skills that Donoahue’s

first graders explore are number patterns, place value, graphing weather and temperature¸

reading the calendar, telling time, using a tally, and learning about odd and even numbers. She

begins each discussion with the following question, “How many days, have we been in school?”

Then the daily math discussions evolve about mathematical ideas, theories, and concepts within
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a predictable structure (Donoahue, 2016, p. 439). These math discussions that are taking place

allow the students to become more interactive and engaged while feeling safe and secure even

when their shared ideas are incorrect. This type of discussion allows for differentiation of

instruction, and the teacher’s role is crucial just as it is in Domain A. Donoahue emphasizes the

importance of keeping a neutral stance as students are developing their own theories, to have

students listen and respond to one another, and always allow ample “wait time” (Donoahue,

2016, p. 432).

This article reflects every aspect of Domain A: Making Subject Matter Comprehensible to

Students. It demonstrates how Donoahue enables her first graders to understand basic

mathematic concepts in a secure environment as she encourages her students to use multiple

ways of approaching mathematical problems by using daily math discussions. As I read through

the script of the first graders’ discussions, I felt the powerful tool of the math class discussions

and how these discussions not only served as a formative assessment for a teacher to know which

math concepts the students have acquired, but it also adapts subject matter curriculum in

mathematics in such a way that allows for differentiation of instruction. Students are allowed to

participate at their own level of understanding without judgement which is so important in

classrooms dominated with English Language learners. This strategy of using math discussions

with first graders merges the Common Core State Standards in mathematics towards every one

of the routines and activities that Donoahue depicts. Her students are able to construct viable

arguments and critique the reasoning of others and look for and express regularity in repeated

reasoning by asking clarifying questions and communicating their findings (Donoahue, 2016, p.

430). This article exemplifies Domain A because the teacher equips her students with tools and

techniques that students can continue to use to make subject matter comprehensible.
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References

Donoahue, Z. (2016). Opening the world of mathematics: The daily math discussion. Teaching

Children with Mathematics, 22 (7), pp. 428-433.