More Games and Activities for Building Math Vocabulary

Guess It!

Materials: list of geometric shapes, post it notes, whiteboard, markers, index cards

Instructions: Place a post-it note with a geometric shape and its name on each student’s back. Tell the students: You may ask your peers YES or NO questions to figure out the shape on your back. Ask only one question per person. Students may keep track of answers on an index card. When they have identified their shape, have them move the post-it note to their shirt front. Have students write the name of their shape and its properties on the board. Discuss the vocabulary terms used in the activity. Use it as a springboard for a discussion about the need for precise vocabulary in mathematics.

Examples of questions: “Does it have parallel lines?” or “Is it 3-dimensional?”

Detective Stories

Materials: Lists of clues (shown below)

Instructions: Students use deductive reasoning to determine the solution as they follow the given clues.

Case #1. Number suspects: 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18

Clue 1: The number is an even number.

Clue 2: The number is not the same as 4 groups of 3.

Clue 3: The number is not 8 + 8.

Clue 4: The number is less than 7 groups of 2.

The number is ______.

Case #2.

Clue 1: I am a number represented by a dot in the picture below.

→         →    →    →      →       →
5          9     ●      ●        ●       ●        ●

Clue 2: I am greater than 20.

Clue 3: The number in my ones place is not 5.

Clue 4: I am the same as one less than three dimes.

Who am I? ______

Big Cube Vocabulary Gallery
Materials: large cube-shaped box, list of terms, index cards, tape, timer
Preparation: write terms on index cards, attach six cards to the faces of cube

Instructions: Work in teams. Provide each team with several index cards. Toss the cube. When it lands, each team has 45 seconds to write a definition, draw a picture that conveys the meaning, or in some way depict the definition of the term on their index card. Collect all of the index cards and remove the term from the cube. Tape the cards and term together on the board. Put a new term on the cube. Play again. Repeat several times. Then have the students go on a gallery walk of the terms and definitions/pictures displayed on the board. Discuss differences in interpretations and review meanings.

Math Vocabulary Wheel
Materials: two paper plates per student, one brad per student, scissors
Instructions:
1. Set the two plates on top of one another. Use a pencil or pen to poke a hole through the exact center of the two plates. Separate the plates.
2. Cut off the outer one inch border of paper plate A. This part is usually corrugated.
3. On paper plate B, write along the outer edge (the corrugated part that you cut off paper plate A) to give your wheel a title. For instance, you might call your wheel NUMBER SENSE WORDS.
4. Fold both paper plates into eight sections. Use a marker to draw lines along the creases.
5. On paper plate A, label each section with a math vocabulary word.
6. On paper plate B, write a definition, draw a picture, or give an example of the vocabulary word in each section. For instance, for the word “estimate” you could draw a jar of marbles and write an estimate of the number of marbles.
7. On paper plate A, cut from the edge of the plate to about ¼” from the brad hole along each of the lines separating the sections.
8. Reattach the two plates using the brad.

Flyswatter
Materials: fly swatters, vocabulary words, whiteboard
Instructions: Work in teams. Face the whiteboard. First student in each team holds a fly swatter. Write the same array of math terms on the board for each team. Read a definition or show a picture for a term. The first one to slap the correct term on the board wins a point. Each player gets three questions and then passes the fly swatter to the next team member. When the first player gets back to the front, change the terms on the array and play again.

Twister
Materials: Twister mat (can be purchased or made from a plastic shower curtain), laminated terms of your choice, definitions for terms, adhesive velcro or duct tape, spinner marked with four sections (left hand, right hand, left foot, right foot)
Preparation: Use adhesive velcro or duct tape to attach a term to each colored circle on the Twister mat. You can use a term more than once.
Instructions: Work in two teams. One player from each team faces an opponent on opposite ends of the mat. Three students act as referees. Referee 1 spins the spinner. Referee 2 reads the term’s definitions. Referee 3 watches to see if an elbow or knee touches the mat and calls the offending player “out.”
Rules: You may not remove a hand or foot from a circle unless it is to allow another hand or foot to pass by. As soon as a player falls or touches the mat with an elbow or knee, the player’s turn is over and the other team is awarded one point. (This is a good time to rotate both players.) The first team to earn ten points wins.