Vocabulary's Important Role in Teaching Math

As teachers we all recognize the importance of vocabulary in reading and writing, yet sometimes we neglect the important role it plays in math.  We get very focused on teaching skills and strategies when we are teaching math however for some of our students mastery of math vocabulary impacts their success in math.  Many of my special education students struggle to recall math terms that we use in math, especially the higher grade levels.  I found that by creating math fluency strips students had a tool for quick visual reference of terms.
  I laminated the math terms we were using for our unit on triangles and angle relationships.  I attached the strips to a binder clip and had it available as a tool for students who had difficulty remembering the difference between an isosceles triangle and an equilateral triangle.  Each math term has a definition with a visual representation. 

In addition to the first set of strips I created a second batch of fluency strips identical to the first set; however these strips had blanks in the definition.  These strips I used in my math centers for additional practice of the terms.  Students practiced individually or with a partner on the “fill in the blank” set in math centers.  My students began to gain confidence with their knowledge of the terms through this repeated practice. 

Students were able to refer to the fluency strips as we completed classwork.  Students were also able to take the strips home to use for reference when doing their homework. Students began to display more confidence and success through the use of the math fluency strips. The fluency strips have definitely had a positive impact on many of my students' math progress and I am currently in the process of developing more for my other math units. 

Click on the link to try out my triangles and angles fluency strips for FREE with your students: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Math-Fluency-Strips-for-Triangles-and-Angles-Vocabulary-1765089