A great way to build connections to Maths vocabulary...

Here's another game shared with us by Marie Hirst, our maths professional development provider. This game is found on the Transum site and is called 'Maths Words'. The idea is that one student stands with their back to the class while the maths word is generated. Once everyone else has seen the word the student turns around and uses the clues provided by their peers to try to work out the word in question. This is a great way for students to unpack and strengthen their connections to the vocabulary as they offer clues without actually using the word.

When I tried this with my group today it wasn't the success I had hoped. I think my students were too shy to offer clues in front of so many people. Rather than stop the game I adapted it on the spot by asking the students to get into groups of three. Once they had done that we split the roles so that one person was guessing the word and two people were giving the clues. I encouraged my students to have Maths Dictionary open to help them define the words generated and derive their clues. This was a huge success!

What I noticed is that my learners do have a good connection to content specific maths vocabulary. They enjoyed having the safety net of Maths Dictionary but tended to only use this to define new words or words they were unsure of. One size definitely does not fit all which is why it really is important to know your learners. 

I'm now looking forward to trying this activity with my more able students as I'm sure their clues will be slightly more cryptic.