How Short Writing Activities Help Build a Strong Math Community

As we return to our schools and classrooms, establishing a strong community will be a top priority. These early moments shape how students will learn and grow together. Here are three short, focused writing activities to help students discover who they are and build meaningful connections with others.

Math Memories

Invite students to try a math memory brainstorm. Use a graphic organizer, sticky notes, or notebook sections to sort ideas into categories. Here are a few possible questions to guide their thinking and help make categories:

• What math topics am I most interested in?
• Where and how have I struggled in math?
• What successes did I have last year in math?
• Who are the people that help me generate happy math memories?

After brainstorming the memories that have shaped them as mathematicians, students write about the kind of year they hope to have in math. As students reflect, they may notice some shared experiences or challenges, which help build connection and empathy among peers. Sharing also supports meaningful partner talk. Encourage students to discuss their thoughts and what they noticed in others’ responses.

It would be great to display some of this writing (even just one or two goals) somewhere in the classroom, so that students can be encouraged by it throughout the year and reflect on their progress and accomplishments as the year progresses. This activity honors students’ past experiences and acknowledges their concerns about math. It also encourages hope, motivation, and growth in the year ahead.

With Math I Can

The first few weeks of math class can cause anxiety for many mathematicians. Kicking it off with an open-ended writing task can help ease anxiety and spark curiosity. “With math, I can” is a short writing task that empowers mathematicians to reflect on the importance of math in their current lives and also reflect on how it can support their future. When mathematicians know the purpose of math and how it fits in with their lives, it gives them more motivation to learn the content. This short writing task is most effective when you show students the inspirational video With Math I Can. After watching the video, mathematicians talk with their peers about goals they hope to achieve and how math can support that goal. 

Once the brainstorm session is complete, it’s time to publish. Mathematicians complete the “With math I can” sentence by writing it on a strip of paper. Next, as students present their sentences, they tape them together. Students are figuratively and literally building the class community by collectively connecting their math hopes or dreams in one place.

In our class, students wrote, “With math, I can figure out if a storm is coming” and “With math, I can measure, multiply, add, or subtract when I become an architect.” Through this writing task, students learn about why math is important, and it allows the class to see what motivates their peers. This activity lasts only one class period, but the poster can be displayed all year to remind the community of mathematicians to stay motivated. 

Thank You, Math

As educators, we can help students begin to reflect on feeling gratitude toward mathematics. Easing their minds around math learning will certainly help them when math topics become challenging in the future. In this activity, students complete a thank-you card addressed to their good pal, math. Hopefully, students can reflect on how math has helped them throughout their lives. For the class community, the first step is to brainstorm all of the reasons why we are grateful for math. Students can participate in this brainstorm by using Post-it Notes or an anchor chart.

After that brainstorm, give students their own thank-you note to complete. To differentiate for mathematicians in your classroom, the cards could be blank or include sentence stems (“Thank you math for…”). In a past class, one student wrote, “Thank you math for showing me grit. You helped me become mentally strong and showed me how to push through.” Another student wrote, “Thank you math for helping me be creative. I liked the base 10 building blocks activity I did last year.” Each student from our class was able to find at least one way to thank math. As they shared with their peers, smiles and connections were being made across the room.

To take this outside of the class or community perspective and bring in the whole school community, we gave each classroom teacher four thank-you cards for their students to address to “math.” Each card was collected and then taped up on a bulletin board. This activity leads to effective conversations in the classroom as the class writes the cards together, and it also facilitates great conversations at school when students visit the bulletin boards to read the thank-you cards.

The activity shows students that math is helpful and that it’s important to support each other’s success with the topics they learn. This specific writing task helps students learn how to communicate with their peers in a pressure-free setting  before having to share specific math work. Students can’t be successful in math if they have a negative mindset blocking their learning. Finding gratitude builds community and can help remove barriers to learning.

Reflection-Based Writing Highlights Growth

As you build your classroom community this year, consider how short writing bursts can invite reflection, connection, and goal setting. These quick activities merge literacy skills with math, give students the space to express themselves, and offer you insight into how best to support them. Each one can easily be adapted for different content areas or grades.

Try using them throughout the year to zoom out from the daily routines of learning and focus on the bigger picture of growth. They could also be great at the end of the year to celebrate progress and accomplishments. When writing helps students reflect on who they are, it strengthens how they learn and belong.