"Mathematics is the language in which God has written the universe." -Galileo Galilei
Indeed, this is true. If simply put, mathematics is the study of structure, quantity, and change, these three are the very basis of everything that ever happens on Earth!
Thus, learning and understanding its vocabulary is critical to improving our understanding of everything that happens around us, more so in formative years as it helps to develop rationality. Mathematics provides a way of building mental discipline and encourages logical reasoning. In addition, knowledge of mathematics forms the basis for comprehending other disciplines, including science, social science, and even music and art.
However, children often struggle with reading, comprehending, communicating, and retaining concepts associated with math due to a lack of the right techniques to learn its vocabulary. The process of creating its vocabulary is densely packed with homonyms and homophones, which can be tricky for children to understand and remember.
For examples :
- Gibs got it right! The answer is right angle. Allow me to write it on the board.
- Now stop being mean to Alex and find the mean of the number written on the board.
- What is the difference between the facial expression and mathematical expression?
- Tom ate two Pies while solving the pie chart problem, now he is deriving the pi value in the second question.
To simplify such complexities for children, we've curated a list of innovative techniques to solve math problems and create the right ‘vocabulary’;
1. Solve word problems every day.
Solving word problems regularly gives an opportunity to read, practice, visualize, interpret, and analyze the concepts in the subject. It also adds to the students' perseverance, logical analysis, and creative thinking. As a teacher, you can encourage your students to practice word problems on a regular basis, which will help them connect the concepts of math to real-life experiences.
2. Use Graphic Organizers
A graphic organizer is a learning tool that helps students construct understanding through an exploration of the connections and relationships between terms, concepts, and facts. They are easy to create, effective in simplifying concepts and also deepen students' understanding. Graphic organizers like the KWL table, the VVWA (Verbal and Visual Word Association), and the Frayer Model can help students foster vocabulary development.
3. Play Vocabulary Games
Games are fun and engaging for children. When children enjoy the learning process, they tend to understand and remember complicated vocabulary for longer. Vocabulary games build the students' confidence in using the terminologies correctly. One such game is MathMan. Apart from improving children’s fluency, games activate their gray cells in the pursuit of learning math.
4. Create a Word Wall
The word wall is one of the most popular and effective teaching strategies to foster math-related vocabulary in children. This learning tool allows you to teach visually, which makes it easier for students to understand and remember the terminology. To prepare this wall, arrange the words associated with math along with the related visual cues to assist students in vocabulary development and display them on the wall or bulletin board. The word wall allows students to process and comprehend vocabulary on their own.
5. Have Math Conversations
Math conversation is a great way to get students talking in depth about mathematical concepts. This activity draws out various strategies and provides opportunities for students to reason about the relationships and connections in mathematics. To start a math conversation, you can pose a problem by displaying a dot card, a picture card, or writing the problem on the board, and provide opportunities for every student to talk about the strategies used in the given problem.
6. Use CUBES method
The CUBES method has been a game-changing technique for students to break down and solve tricky word problems. It involves five steps, which are:
C - Circle the numbers
U - Underline the question
B - Box the key words
E - Eliminate the extra details
S - Solve the problem
Each letter of CUBES stands for an action that students will apply to the given word problems. This technique encourages students to chunk the given information into the word problem to simplify the process.
A good teacher helps the students look beyond the pages of a textbook and learn from everything they encounter. This can help students develop an aptitude for math; they will enjoy solving problems, and the thrill of finding answers will outweigh the challenges. A one-on-one dedicated class as provided by the tutors at TheTutor.Me can do wonders for your child's learning curve.
Learning math should be a fun exercise for children, not something they have to worry about and fuss over!
