I like giving my students a chance to summarize our learning in a meaningful way. At the beginning of the year I give each student a spiral bound blank dictionary. As we finish up a math topic, we talk about what to add to the dictionary, and we develop the definition together and I write it on the whiteboard, and they copy it in their dictionary as well as an example. Occasionally we will glue in some fun little addition. We use these dictionaries throughout the year, for quizzes, games, reviews, etc. They are easy to use as they are in alphabetical order. I have worked with the other grade teachers, so the dictionaries are used from 4th-8th grades. It’s fun for my students to see their writing and understanding evolve.
A blank math dictionary (or for anything) is free at my store.
And if you want some fun additions check out my dictionaries for 2nd and 3rd grade.
Thanks for reading and let me know how you use dictionaries and journals in your classroom!
– Evil Math Wizard (though I’m really not evil)
