Supporting Mathematical Vocabulary

I've been wondering if there is a time in the lesson when introducing vocabulary is better than others.  Is there a way to introduce it that is better than giving a list of words for the students to copy definitions from the glossary.

Is there a way to help students learn to define mathematical terms in their own words rather than than relying on the textbook?

The thing about mathematical vocabulary is a word can often describe a concept so trying to preteach the vocabulary is much more difficult.  It has been suggested the teacher take time to divide vocabulary into one of three categories.  The first category is words which could be pretaught such as reduce or simplify because these words often mean the same thing in math as they do in general usage.  The second category are those words that should be taught at the same time the concept is being taught such as numerator and denominator.  The final category are words which should be taught after students have had the chance to explore the math.

In addition to this are the fact words can be classified as general everyday words such as hello, good bye, etc while the second group are descriptive or words that could be either mathematical or general such as product, or increasing at a slower rate.  The third group are those words which are quite specific such as vertex or hypotenuse.

There are three places within a lesson where vocabulary can be introduced.  It can be introduced at the beginning of the lesson, the middle or the end.  The choice of where depends on what the vocabulary support provides the student.  In other words, they need the vocabulary to engage in the lesson but not to ruin the challenge of the lesson itself.

When preteaching vocabulary at the beginning of the lesson it can give students what they need to participate in the lesson because they understand the means as they read, write, speak or listen to the mathematics. In addition, it helps them interpret the math so they can explore things better but if done at the wrong time, it can interfere with learning.

If the vocabulary is associated with the new mathematical concept, you do not want to preteach the vocabulary.  You want  to introduce the vocabulary in the middle of the lesson when teaching the concept.  There are several ways to do it such as pausing class to have a student share what they've learned about a new word, or perhaps have all the students can participate in a think, pair, share activity.

When vocabulary is shared at the end of the lesson, it is used to formalize key concepts taught during the lesson.  At this point, students are engaged in using the new mathematical terminology so they have connections between the vocabulary and the concept.  It is important to have this occur so students become more fluent in mathematics.

Once the student has learned the vocabulary and the concepts, it is time to have the student create their own word wall using one or more apps, a poster showing their understanding, or other visualization. 

Let me know what you think.  I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.