Math Vocabulary Games for the Classroom

Do your students need to learn new words?

Do your students love to learn with games?

Vocabulary games are a great way to get students using new math terms. Engage your students in a fun new approach to learning academic vocabulary. Try one of these games with your students today!

Math Vocabulary Games for the Classroom

1. Vocabulary Who Has It? 

Students in the classroom are divided into two teams. (Just draw an imaginary line down the middle for two quick teams). Students use their vocabulary cards in the vocabulary notebook to ask "Who has it?" Team one and team two choose 5 notebooks to submit from their teams to be used for the game. The teacher randomly picks one definition to read aloud to the class. Team one and team two have to answer with the correct definition's word to win a point. Play continues for 20-30 minutes until at least 1 definition for each student in the class has been read for.

2. Tic Tac Toe

Students use their vocabulary cards to play Tic Tac Toe with a partner. Have students use their vocabulary notebooks to find definitions to read to a shoulder partner. Then their partner must guess correct to put an X or O on the board. Students play until they have won and completed the Tic Tac Toe games.

3. Timed Gallery Walk 

Write Around the Room with Math allows students to move and interact with vocabulary. Set up the vocabulary sentences all over your classroom. Then set a timer on the board. Tell students that they have a limited amount of time to find the most vocabulary sentences before the timer goes off!

4. Twenty Questions Game 

Can you guess the vocabulary term in less than 20 questions? Have students guess is it a shape? Is it a measurement? To figure out what the math term is. This is a fun spin on vocabulary. Students will enjoy trying to guess. This is a great review for a chapter test or end of course exam.


Download the FREE vocabulary cards and try a game today!

Free Math Vocabulary Cards

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3 Strategies for Practicing Math Vocabulary

Do your students struggle with math?

Do your students know their math vocabulary?

3 Strategies For Practicing Math Vocabulary 

Math is a language like English, French, or Spanish. There are key concepts in math that need to be explained and well defined. How do your students understand math vocabulary? Do you have them practice the terms? Here are three strategies to use with your students for practicing new math vocabulary words.

1. Make an Interactive Math Word Wall. 

What do you display on your classroom walls? Do your students create it or is it teacher made? Have your students create an Interactive Math Word Wall. Students will write the definitions and pictures for each word. Display their work on post-it notes beside or below the math word. Students will enjoy creating this word wall in your classroom. They will even ask if they can "cheat" and look at it during a quiz or test. Why do they ask this? It is a helpful reference for them to be reminded what the vocabulary word means. Math is a language that needs to be modeled and taught daily for comprehension.

2. Make a Math Writing Center

Do your students know how to write math? Do they need a scaffolded approach to using math word in context? Try using a Math Writing Center. When you do math centers or math workshops in your classroom have one center be writing math only. Students will work on writing sentences with important grade level math terms. This will help build students' math writing confidence. Students need to practice with a scaffolded approach. This is a great solution for students to learn how to write math terms in the appropriate context.

3. Make a Vocabulary Notebook. 

How do your students learn and record new vocabulary? Do your students make math vocabulary maps? Students will take ownership of their Math Vocabulary Notebook. Have students write 3-5 terms per week. Students will add new math vocabulary word maps to their notebooks every week. At the end of the year they will have completed the entire year's list of grade level vocabulary.

Using math vocabulary notebooks is one way to practice vocabulary every week. Try a FREE math vocabulary map today!

Free Math Vocabulary Cards

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3 Strategies for Higher Student Achievement

Do you want your students to achieve higher scores?

Do your students need to deepen their understanding of math?

These two questions go hand in hand. Helping your students to deepen their understanding of math will result in higher test scores. When students know the subject matter inside out and are able to teach it to others, mastery has occurred. Included in the post are 3 strategies that YOU CAN IMPLEMENT TODAY.  Yes today. It's really amazing what you can do if you do it with urgency and dive right in. What are you waiting for?

1. Summarizing & Note Taking in Interactive Math Notebooks

Interactive Math Notebooks are a great way to enhance students’ ability to synthesize information and organize it in a way that captures the main ideas and supporting details. Students create the information in their notebooks and take pride in the ownership of their work.

Interactive Math Notebook Grade 5

Interactive Math Notebooks Grades 6 to 8 

Allowing for scaffolding and students to create their own notebooks is key. Be careful that students are the creators of the notebook and they follow the teacher's guidelines, but make use of the space for their own knowledge and mastery. A simple way to implement this is through taking notes. Students write their own notes in their notebook and organize the material to make sense of it.

Interactive Notebook NO PREP Notes Grades 3 to 5

Interactive Notebook NO PREP Notes Grades 6 to 8

2. Assigning Vocabulary Homework and Providing Practice 

Give the opportunity for students to  practice, review, and apply knowledge.  Vocabulary is key to understanding math word problems. Tests are no longer just simple numerical responses such as "2 x 5 = ??". Tests are written like, "The product of two and five is equivalent to the product of ? and ?."

Enhance students’ ability to reach the expected level of proficiency for a skill with vocabulary practice. Assigning weekly vocabulary is beneficial for students to master the math concepts. By assigning 3-5 words every week, at the end of the year the students will have practiced and applied every grade level appropriate math vocabulary word. Start small and give students manageable goals for achieving vocabulary success.

Math Vocabulary Notebooks Grades 3 to 5

Math Vocabulary Notebooks Grades 6 to 8

Also interacting with vocabulary is just as important. Teacher made Word Walls look great, but student created word walls hold more meaning and students take more pride in their work being displayed. Have your students make the word wall in the classroom and give them feedback on definitions, examples, and facts about all the math vocabulary words.

Interactive Math Vocabulary Word Wall Grades 3-5 

Interactive Math Vocabulary Word Wall Grades 6-8

3. Providing Time for Cooperative Learning in Math

Time is short in math class, but teachers need to provide students with opportunities to interact with one another in ways that enhance their learning. One of my favorite ways for students to interact with each other independently is through math stations (or math workshops). Other types could include games, projects, and hands-on learning applications. Math stations are no prep to set up and give students a guided approach through reviewing and applying knowledge. Students work in groups of 2 to 4 to complete all of the station work in the allotted time.

                                         Middle School Math Stations Bundle Grades 6 to 8

Implement any or all of these strategies with your students and their knowledge for math will deepen. Once students are able to put the conceptual knowledge of math together for themselves, they are better able to apply it. Laying the groundwork for anything isn't easy, but it's necessary. Help your students today and they will be better for it tomorrow.

Want to learn more strategies for math test prep? Download the roadmap today!

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Math Test Prep
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Interactive Math Vocabulary Notebooks (Grades 3 to 5)