Numeracy Activities
Make a Maths Dictionary for your class
Why not get your class to make their own maths dictionary? Students are more likely to
remember the meanings of the terms if they have made the pages for themselves. The class
(along with your help) can also choose vocabulary which is appropriate for their age range.
Once it is made, the dictionary can be kept in the classroom as a valuable reference tool,
which the children can refer to during their normal Maths activities.
Each day, you could also choose one term from the dictionary, and discuss its meaning with
the class (giving examples of when it may be used).
1) First of all, you need to decide which vocabulary to include in the dictionary. You could do
this yourself, but you could also discuss the matter with the children. Below is a list of possible
words that you might want to include (obviously this is not a complete list - just some
suggestions):
2D
3D
Acute
Addition
Angle
Area
Bigger than
Calculator
Capacity
Centimetres
Circle
Co-ordinates
Cuboids
Cylinders
Data
Decimal Point
Degrees
Digit
Division
Edges
Fraction
Graphs
Hexagon
Horizontal
Inches
Kilograms
Length
Measure
Metre
Multiplication
Obtuse
o'clock
Octogan
Parallel
Patterns
Perimeter
Probability
Protractor
Rectangle
Reflection
Rhombus
Right-angle
Rotation
Round
Ruler
Scales
Shape
Sides
Smaller than
Speed
Square
Subtraction
Surfaces
Symmetry
Tessellation
Time
Triangle
Vertical
Volume
Weight
You will also need to think about the following:
1. Variations of these words, and words which have the same meaning, e.g. Addition,
Adding, Plus, +.
2. Words which have more than one meaning (e.g. square (the shape) and square
(multiply a number by itself)).
3. The format / layout of the pages of the book. If there is to be a uniform layout, the
children should be familiar with this. You could of course discuss the format of the
book with the children, design a few different styles and ask them to choose the most
suitable one. Three possible layouts are shown below.
2) Next, you need to decide which children are going to make each page (and which terms
they are going to include on that page). They will obviously need to understand the
mathematical vocabulary which they are going to define! As well as defining the meaning of
the term, they could include examples of situations where that vocabulary can be used.
3) Once the children have made their page(s), you can put them all together to make the
dictionary, which will be a valuable addition to your classroom's resources.