

The highest level of word knowledge is that you can teach it to someone else, of course. Sometimes I play four corners to pre-assess my science or math vocabulary and add in "I can explain this word in one way" as the third level of knowledge. I love to use the word-knowledge continuum of "I've never heard this word before," "I've heard this word but can't remember what it means," and "I can give a definition and picture for this word" to have students pre-assess themselves.

On the first day of my geometry unit, I like to pre-assess my students' geometry vocabulary knowledge. Ideas for Pre-Assessing Vocabulary Knowledge Students use these cards in so many ways to study the important vocabulary that is critical to understanding and mastering geometry concepts. One of the most important resources I use in my geometry unit is a set of Geometry Vocabulary Cards. How do I spice up our geometry vocabulary work? With lots of games and activities to allow students many exposures to the vocabulary words, of course!

While geometry can be light and fun, the vocabulary understanding needed to fully master geometry is huge! So, a lot of our geometry work focuses on learning and using the vocabulary of the discipline. Geometry lessons and games seem to keep my students engaged, happy, and having fun in math while also getting prepped for the "big test." This is the time of the year when we are getting deep into review for our End of Grade Tests and I've always felt like geometry is the perfect way to keep it light while trying to review so many of the "hard" things we have learned in math throughout the year. I always save my geometry unit for 4th quarter.
