Third Grade Students’ Disciplinary Literacy in Mathematics: Preliminary Findings from Interviews and Eye-Tracking Data

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  In Roundtable Session: Literacy Development and Achievement across the Lifespan

Abstract

This study explores how third-grade students construct mathematical meaning after reading an expository text about area. Using Systemic Functional Linguistics, we analyzed students’ discourse and visual representations to examine how disciplinary literacy emerges in early mathematics. Two procedurally fluent readers engaged in eye-tracked read-alouds, interviews, and drawing tasks. Findings revealed contrastive reference chains: one student described area as spatial room for their objects, while another referenced quantity-based language, specifically multiplication. Despite both demonstrating reading fluency, both students differed in demonstrating conceptual understanding of area.

Authors

• Sanampreet Gill, Kent State University

• Karl W. Kosko, Kent State University

• George Kamberelis, Kent State University