Eureka Math Lesson 2: Translations

Eureka Math and the English Learners Success Forum (ELSF) had the opportunity to collaborate on the development and refinement of lessons with the explicit purpose of learning together about language development in mathematics by the process of creating and refining materials that build on English learner students’ background knowledge and existing linguistic resources in the learning of mathematics. The process worked as follows:

1. Eureka generated lessons for review.
2. ELSF used the ELSF mathematics instructional materials Guidelines to generate written feedback about how the sample lessons could be more effective for ELs.  
3. Eureka took feedback and worked to refine materials based on it.
4. ELSF then generated an impact statement which indicated which feedback was taken up in a robust way, and ways that the materials could be further refined for greater effectiveness in supporting ELs.

There are a number of strengths, in regards to supporting ELs, found in the revised lesson. The new examples show guidance for teachers to incorporate and value the spoken contributions of English Learners, opportunities for students to learn new terms in context and through conversation, and specific structures designed to help students develop language with new mathematical concepts over time. The following example lesson calls out aspects of the lesson that were refined, with rationale and accompanying Guidelines which provide information on why the refinement is more effective for ELs.