Math Vocabulary: The Need for Intentional Instruction

Another valuable insight that came from my classroom observation was that my students were not strong enough readers to take what they read and translate it into mathematical operations. They needed more work on vocabulary. The administrator directed me to a website which has a table of math vocabulary words that translate to mathematical operations. I made a chart with this information, then made a sorting activity by putting the words on separate cards along with cards for the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and equals. I used this activity to focus on teaching the mathematical association each word had. Instead of just pointing it out as we did the word problems, I made math vocabulary the focus of a teaching mini-unit. We did this activity regularly for several days and then sporadically in the weeks that followed.

Today, as we approached word problems and translating them into algebraic expressions, I had the students use a highlighter to mark vocabulary words that signaled specific mathematical operations. They were then able to determine the algebraic expression that was needed because they knew what operation to use based on the vocabulary words. I realized this had indeed been a successful undertaking when I saw the students answering the assigned tasks independently with correct answers.

The valuable insight that I gained here is that I needed to stop and do some intentional instruction focused specifically on what I wanted them to learn. The overall task of solving word problems needed to be set aside for a time to work on the individual skills needed to complete the overall task. Sure, as we had done word problems, I had pointed out what various words meant and how they would translate into math. But these kids needed to have intense training along with the message that they needed to know how to do this. And it paid off in increased learning and skills for my students.