Why make a personal dictionary?

There are a number of reasons to have your students make their own personal math dictionary.
  1. Students will take ownership in their dictionary because they made it.
  2. They will be the only person using it, so it will fit their needs best. They can create it so it makes sense to them.
  3. It is unique a each student, when their is a word a student doesn't know they can learn about it and then put it in their dictionary for future use.
  4. It is a great resource for the students. It can travel from school to home, allowing students to continually track their learning.
  5. Students are more likely to remember the terms better because they were the ones who wrote them (Warner, n.d.).
Picture
(Eishen, 2013)

Variations

Just remember there is no certain way to create your personal dictionaries, each teacher must decide what is best going to meet the students needs. Some teachers use them as learning tools where the vocabulary word gets written on the board for the whole class to learn from. Other teachers allow there students to use them as reference during testing. Each teacher can decide how to use their dictionaries (Miller & Veatch, 2013, p.33).
Kimberly Carey
Course: EEC 428
Professor: Dr. Lori Piowloski
Minnesota State University, Mankato

How to make a dictionary

Here is a few different ways for students to get a little more excited about making their dictionaries. A new spin on an old idea.
(Younis, 2014)
(Tribe Awesome, 2013)

Procedure

  1. Model for students what to do when they come across an unfamiliar word in their text. They are encouraged to write the word, page and paragraph in a personal dictionary.
  2. Remind children to add to their dictionary often; it will make for a quick resource.       
  3. It is important to give your students opportunities to build on  what they have learned through support from teachers or  classmates.   
  4. Remind children that it is a travel dictionary and should be taken home. They are encouraged to add to the dictionary at home as well (Miller & Veatch, 2013, p.32).
Picture
(Miller & Veatch, 2013, p.33)

Additional Resources

Mathwords: Terms and Formulas from Beginning Algebra to Calculus
Kick Me: Making Vocabulary Interactive
Vocabulary in the Interactive Notebook
Math Vocabulary
Vocabulary Mini Games

References

Eishen, A. (2013, February 18). My life in verbs: interactive math notebooks [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.mylifeinverbs.com/2013/02/interactive-math-notebooks.html

Miller, M., & Veatch, N. (2011). Literacy in context (LinC): Choosing instructional strategies to teach reading in content areas for students grades 5-12. Boston: Pearson.

Tribe Awesome. (2013, September 6). Awesome mathematical dictionary [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ0hb2ebXEY

Warner, M. (n.d.). Maths dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/maths/mathsdic.htm

Younis, D. (2014, March 14). How to Create a Mini Dictionary [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jylyEgX3dk