Purpose
This task helps students to notice and focus on key words. It gives them opportunities to work out word meanings and helps them to develop independence in doing so.
Procedure
Give each student a list of key words for the topic with two blank columns alongside. In the first column, the students write the meaning of each word or what they guess the meaning is. As they come across the word in context later in the lesson, they can revise their definition. The answers can then be discussed and clarified in the whole class, or the words can be used in a sentence, as in the example table below.
Give students the vocabulary grid at the beginning of the unit of work. As they encounter the vocabulary, they begin to consolidate their understanding of it. They are able to refer to this vocabulary list during the course of the unit.
More information about before and after vocabulary grids can be found at:
Example of a before and after vocabulary grid with a focus on geometry
| Geometry word |
My definition before |
My definition after |
The word in a sentence |
| vertices | |||
| sides | |||
| right angle | |||
| parallel | |||
| cuboids | |||
| reflection | |||
| rotation | |||
| translation |
What to look for:
- Which students are able to use the mathematical contexts to establish definitions?
- Which vocabulary items are difficult for the students to define?
- Are there some vocabulary items that students can show you in concrete examples but not describe in oral or written forms?
- Which vocabulary is not understood by students and needs to be taught more explicitly?
Back to Resource 4: Strategies for teaching mathematical language to English language learners