Help Kids Make Sense of Algebra Vocabulary: FREE Guided Notes
Help your students make sense of algebra vocabulary with some simple translation practice worksheets. Use these pages to discuss math specific words & begin writing algebraic expressions.
Some of the most common errors I have seen teaching algebra occur because students simply cannot accurately “translate” words into mathematical models, or because they do not understand math “jargon” such as evaluate or simplify. I think this problem could easily be avoided, however, if one or two days were spent focusing on these skills. We cannot expect students to walk into class with a clear understanding of “math words” if they were never explicitly taught. Help your kids understand algebra vocabulary with these free guided notes pages!
Teach the Language of Algebra:
Math is a language we must teach students, just as Spanish or French must be taught and learned. No one would expect a student to walk into Spanish 1 already knowing how to translate English phrases or sentences into Spanish!
Below are some helpful handouts I have used to give my students a chance to think about words or phrases that have specific meanings in Algebra, as well as a review of “math words” that they need to understand before they can correctly answer a math problem.
Ultimately, the goal in Algebra is to be able to problem solve by writing a mathematical model to represent a real life situation.
Call them what you will, “word problems,” “story problems,” “application problems,” etc. but the bottom line is this: how to work through solve these types of problems must be taught. And so I hope the following resources are helpful to you and your students!
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To access the Algebra Vocabulary worksheets, click the links below:
Looking for additional practice with translating algebra vocabulary? Grab this set of FREE Algebraic Expressions Pages!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about algebra. Regards