Vocabulary in the math classroom

During my time in the math classroom, I've noticed that vocabulary can get quickly mentioned, then skipped over. If students don't know what I am talking about, how can I expect them to be successful when I say something like "Move the constant?" Then, I get blank stares...."Mrs. B, what's a constant?"

Uh oh.

Over the years, I have severely neglected making sure that students understand math vocabulary. It's much easier to mention it, then get to the fun stuff, like solving equations! I noticed that my more advanced students caught onto vocabulary very quickly, while my other students did not. So, for those students that need more practice and more time working with the vocabulary words of the math world, I started making vocabulary units to use with my in class units.

A thought you might have, because I sure have..."But I have no time to do this in my classroom!"

Vocab does not have to take a long time, and I know 5 minutes can be a lot of class time. I mean, that's 10% of a 50 minute class! You can use small vocab activities as a bellringer/starter. It can be used for fast finishers. It can even be...should I say it...homework! There, I said it. I like doing activities like this as pick up assignment after a quiz or test to prep them for the next unit or section. It won't feel like math to them because it's focusing on the vocabulary used instead of the process of how to solve.

Now, what activities do I mean? I mean things like crossword puzzles, word searches, and any other vocabulary activities that you can think of that do not require much prep on your part, because I know how busy you are!

These are the types of activities that I like to use. I will link (click the underlined part) these activities that I have made for the vocabulary portion of a unit on solving linear equations and number types. I'm also going to include the word wall and graphic organizers for this unit linked below.

Word Wall & Organizers - Word walls are great visuals for students to take a quick peek without having to pull out their notes or ask "what's a constant?!" It's great for your visual learners and easy to decorate with if you need something to put on a bulletin board (always me...not great at class decoration here). The organizers are optional, but I love using them with the types of numbers. You can do examples and non-examples to help students work through an integer vs a natural number or whatever types you are looking at. In my link there are filled-in organizers, and 2 blank versions: one with labels and the other without.

Activities (Easel Version Included!)

• Crossword puzzle

• Word search - The clues for this puzzle are definitions or examples, so students have to know those before finding them in the puzzle - more thinking than just matching!

• Always, Sometimes, Never - For each statement, students have to choose if it is always true, sometimes true, or never true. Then, they give their reasoning.

• Notes/Create your own (Freebie!) - Great for either teaching the vocab or having students come up with their own examples and definitions.

• Matching (Freebie!) - A quick matching activity for checking for understand or even at the start of the unit to see what students already know.

I also have a discounted bundle for all of it, including the word wall. Get it all together and $ave!

Comment below if there are any other types of activities that you love to use for vocab. We love to hear from you!

~Kendra