Lessons to Improve Math & Vocabulary
Teachers have a variety of lesson plans to improve children's math and vocabulary skills. Students respond to lessons that engage them and also provide immediate results. The following math and vocabulary games are designed to be used in elementary classrooms, and prepare students for more rigorous math and vocabulary lessons in middle and high school. They are fun, active games with clear rules that can be used anytime while teaching students the core subjects.
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Daily Vocabulary Words
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Give students a daily list of vocabulary words and have them write the word four times and then use the word in a sentence. This will help increase their vocabulary, teach the spelling of the word, and also the meaning of the word by word association. If students are unsure of the meaning of a word, have them use a dictionary. They can use an online dictionary or the regular hardback variety most classrooms use today.
Word Wall
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Construct a Word Wall in your classroom and add words to it daily. Each day begins with a new word that the teacher will discuss in class. The teacher will define the word and use it in a sentence which the students will copy in their vocabulary notebook, and then add the word to the Word Wall. During writing period have students refer to the Word Wall and use several of the words in their composition.
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Vocabulary Sticker Game
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Make one vocabulary word card for each student in your class and pass them out to the students. The teacher will then read the definition of one vocabulary word. The student who has the word on their card and is the first to use it in a sentence, will earn a sticker. The teacher then gives out two to three more definitions before the students trade their vocabulary cards and the game continues with another round.
Rounding Bingo
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Have students practice rounding numbers to the nearest "10" in their math notebooks. Pass out a piece of paper to each student and have them write all numbers ending in zero up to 100. All students will receive bingo chips and can have a "Free" space on their sheet. The teacher will hold up a card with a number on it and ask the students to round it to the nearest "10." If the student has the rounded number on her sheet she can cover it with a dot, and so on and so forth, until one student has a row of dots and calls "Bingo."
Dry Erase Board Addition and Subtraction
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Pass out to each student a dry erase board and marker. The teacher will write an addition or subtraction problem on the board and the class will have one minute to solve it. The first student to solve the equation on his or her dry erase board and hold their board up with the correct answer gets a point. The teacher will continue with addition and subtraction problems, making them progressively more difficult and possibly using double-digit numbers. This game can also be modified for the class to include mulitiplication and division problems.
Flower Petal Multiplication
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The teacher will pass out to each student a flower with petals. On each flower will be a multiplication problem and on each petal will be an answer to the equation. The student who matches the correct petal answer with the flower equation wins a point.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Portrait of a styled children. Theme: education.. image by Andrey Kiselev from Fotolia.com
