Math Dictionary

Wow, it's been FOREVER since I've posted anything on here!  I hope to start posting more regularly, so please continue to come back!

This post is just a quick post to talk about my Math Dictionaries I do in my Geometry class.  As some of you know, Geometry is full of a TON of new definitions for the students.  Coplanar, supplementary, similar, tangent, the list goes on.  Geometry is also jam packed with theorems and postulates.  Since we don't use our textbooks very often, I have my students make a Math Dictionary of all the terms, postulates, and theorems we discuss in class.

Here's what we do:

The Math Dictionary is made using notecards and a notebook ring.  At the beginning (or end) of a lesson, the students are shown the terms for the lesson as well as any theorems or postulates we will be discussing.  The students write the term on the front of the notecard.  The definition of the term and any figures pertaining to the term are also drawn on the back.  Often, examples of the term and non-examples are drawn on the back of the card.  For theorems and postulates, the students write the name of the theorem or postulate on the front and then write the theorem/postulate on the back in words and in symbols.  We also discuss what it means in "non-Math terms" and that is written on the back of the notecard as well.  The students are to then but the notecards in alphabetical order so that the notecards can be easily found (the reason for the notebook ring).

I really like these notecards.  Students can quickly find the information they are looking for in the math dictionary along with figures, examples, and sometimes more importantly, non-examples.

Here is a picture of a Math Dictionary.  The quality of the picture isn't clear, but you get the idea of how they look.  I do checks on the notecards to make sure the students are completing the cards.