Transum Maths Software

Vocabulary

There are 366 different Starters of The Day, many to choose from. You will find in the left column below some starters on the topic of Vocabulary. In the right column below are links to related online activities, videos and teacher resources.

A lesson starter does not have to be on the same topic as the main part of the lesson or the topic of the previous lesson. It is often very useful to revise or explore other concepts by using a starter based on a totally different area of Mathematics.

Main Page

Vocabulary Starters:

A Number: When written as a word or words what is the smallest positive whole number containing the letter 'a'?

Alphanumbetical: A challenge to find the number which when written as a word has all the letters in alphabetical order.

Anagrams: Can you un-jumble these mathematical words?

Eleven Plus Two: Rearrange the letters in the expression 'Eleven Plus Two' to make another expression with the same value.

Figuratively Speaking: Write the numbers written as words using digits.

Intents Excitement: Work out the mathematical words missing from the story about buying a tent.

Kim's Game 3: This is the Maths version of the traditional memory game. Memorise 10 mathematical facts then recall them as they disappear from view.

Love Maths: Find the nine mathematical words hidden in the love story. The last letters of the hidden words form an anagram of the name of a famous mathematician.

Lyric Lacking Limerick: Find the words missing from the mathematical limerick.

M for Mathematics: Write down as many mathematical words as possible that begin with the letter M.

Maths Crossword: A small crossword puzzle containing mathematical words.

Maths In School: Find mathematical words which can be made by using the letters in the name of your school?

Mystery Numbers: Can you recognise the mystery numbers from the clues?

Square Circle Kite: Write down the names of all the mathematical shapes you know.

Starting With: Write down as many mathematical words as possible that begin with a particular letter.

True or False?: An activity designed to address common misconceptions.

Vixen Value: The Vixen Value of a word is the number of vowels multiplied by the number of consonants. How many words can you find with Vixen Value of 24?

Vowelless: Vowels have been taken out of mathematical words. Can you recognise them?

Word Search: Create your own mathematical word search for the whole class to enjoy.

Wordles: Turn mathematical words into designs which will help you remember the meanings of the words.

 

Small images of these Starters ::  Index of Starters

Index of Advanced Starters


Suggested

Position Practice

Position Practice

Use words for position and direction including left, right, in front, behind, under and above.

The short web address is:

Transum.org/go/?to=positional

 

Feedback:

Comment recorded on the 28 May 'Starter of the Day' page by L Smith, Colwyn Bay:

"An absolutely brilliant resource. Only recently been discovered but is used daily with all my classes. It is particularly useful when things can be saved for further use. Thank you!"

Comment recorded on the 2 April 'Starter of the Day' page by Mrs Wilshaw, Dunsten Collage,Essex:

"This website was brilliant. My class and I really enjoy doing the activites."

Comment recorded on the s /Indice 'Starter of the Day' page by Busolla, Australia:

"Thank you very much for providing these resources for free for teachers and students. It has been engaging for the students - all trying to reach their highest level and competing with their peers while also learning. Thank you very much!"

Comment recorded on the 19 October 'Starter of the Day' page by E Pollard, Huddersfield:

"I used this with my bottom set in year 9. To engage them I used their name and favorite football team (or pop group) instead of the school name. For homework, I asked each student to find a definition for the key words they had been given (once they had fun trying to guess the answer) and they presented their findings to the rest of the class the following day. They felt really special because the key words came from their own personal information."

Comment recorded on the 12 July 'Starter of the Day' page by Miss J Key, Farlingaye High School, Suffolk:

"Thanks very much for this one. We developed it into a whole lesson and I borrowed some hats from the drama department to add to the fun!"

Comment recorded on the 10 September 'Starter of the Day' page by Carol, Sheffield PArk Academy:

"3 NQTs in the department, I'm new subject leader in this new academy - Starters R Great!! Lovely resource for stimulating learning and getting eveyone off to a good start. Thank you!!"

Comment recorded on the 14 September 'Starter of the Day' page by Trish Bailey, Kingstone School:

"This is a great memory aid which could be used for formulae or key facts etc - in any subject area. The PICTURE is such an aid to remembering where each number or group of numbers is - my pupils love it!
Thanks"

Comment recorded on the 3 October 'Starter of the Day' page by S Mirza, Park High School, Colne:

"Very good starters, help pupils settle very well in maths classroom."

Comment recorded on the 3 October 'Starter of the Day' page by Fiona Bray, Cams Hill School:

"This is an excellent website. We all often use the starters as the pupils come in the door and get settled as we take the register."

Comment recorded on the 11 January 'Starter of the Day' page by S Johnson, The King John School:

"We recently had an afternoon on accelerated learning.This linked really well and prompted a discussion about learning styles and short term memory."

Comment recorded on the 1 August 'Starter of the Day' page by Peter Wright, St Joseph's College:

"Love using the Starter of the Day activities to get the students into Maths mode at the beginning of a lesson. Lots of interesting discussions and questions have arisen out of the activities.
Thanks for such a great resource!"

Comment recorded on the 14 October 'Starter of the Day' page by Inger Kisby, Herts and Essex High School:

"Just a quick note to say that we use a lot of your starters. It is lovely to have so many different ideas to start a lesson with. Thank you very much and keep up the good work."

Comment recorded on the 23 September 'Starter of the Day' page by Judy, Chatsmore CHS:

"This triangle starter is excellent. I have used it with all of my ks3 and ks4 classes and they are all totally focused when counting the triangles."

Comment recorded on the 6 May 'Starter of the Day' page by Natalie, London:

"I am thankful for providing such wonderful starters. They are of immence help and the students enjoy them very much. These starters have saved my time and have made my lessons enjoyable."

Comment recorded on the 8 May 'Starter of the Day' page by Mr Smith, West Sussex, UK:

"I am an NQT and have only just discovered this website. I nearly wet my pants with joy.
To the creator of this website and all of those teachers who have contributed to it, I would like to say a big THANK YOU!!! :)."

Comment recorded on the 21 October 'Starter of the Day' page by Mr Trainor And His P7 Class(All Girls), Mercy Primary School, Belfast:

"My Primary 7 class in Mercy Primary school, Belfast, look forward to your mental maths starters every morning. The variety of material is interesting and exciting and always engages the teacher and pupils. Keep them coming please."

Comment recorded on the 3 October 'Starter of the Day' page by Mrs Johnstone, 7Je:

"I think this is a brilliant website as all the students enjoy doing the puzzles and it is a brilliant way to start a lesson."

Comment recorded on the 9 April 'Starter of the Day' page by Jan, South Canterbury:

"Thank you for sharing such a great resource. I was about to try and get together a bank of starters but time is always required elsewhere, so thank you."

Comment recorded on the s /Coordinate 'Starter of the Day' page by Greg, Wales:

"Excellent resource, I use it all of the time! The only problem is that there is too much good stuff here!!"

Comment recorded on the 17 June 'Starter of the Day' page by Mr Hall, Light Hall School, Solihull:

"Dear Transum,

I love you website I use it every maths lesson I have with every year group! I don't know were I would turn to with out you!"

Comment recorded on the 1 May 'Starter of the Day' page by Phil Anthony, Head of Maths, Stourport High School:

"What a brilliant website. We have just started to use the 'starter-of-the-day' in our yr9 lessons to try them out before we change from a high school to a secondary school in September. This is one of the best resources on-line we have found. The kids and staff love it. Well done an thank you very much for making my maths lessons more interesting and fun."

Comment recorded on the 16 March 'Starter of the Day' page by Mrs A Milton, Ysgol Ardudwy:

"I have used your starters for 3 years now and would not have a lesson without one! Fantastic way to engage the pupils at the start of a lesson."

Comment recorded on the 24 May 'Starter of the Day' page by Ruth Seward, Hagley Park Sports College:

"Find the starters wonderful; students enjoy them and often want to use the idea generated by the starter in other parts of the lesson. Keep up the good work"

Comment recorded on the 17 November 'Starter of the Day' page by Amy Thay, Coventry:

"Thank you so much for your wonderful site. I have so much material to use in class and inspire me to try something a little different more often. I am going to show my maths department your website and encourage them to use it too. How lovely that you have compiled such a great resource to help teachers and pupils.
Thanks again"

Comment recorded on the 19 June 'Starter of the Day' page by Nikki Jordan, Braunton School, Devon:

"Excellent. Thank you very much for a fabulous set of starters. I use the 'weekenders' if the daily ones are not quite what I want. Brilliant and much appreciated."

Comment recorded on the 9 October 'Starter of the Day' page by Mr Jones, Wales:

"I think that having a starter of the day helps improve maths in general. My pupils say they love them!!!"

Comment recorded on the 18 September 'Starter of the Day' page by Mrs. Peacock, Downe House School and Kennet School:

"My year 8's absolutely loved the "Separated Twins" starter. I set it as an optional piece of work for my year 11's over a weekend and one girl came up with 3 independant solutions."

Comment recorded on the 1 February 'Starter of the Day' page by Terry Shaw, Beaulieu Convent School:

"Really good site. Lots of good ideas for starters. Use it most of the time in KS3."

Comment recorded on the 26 March 'Starter of the Day' page by Julie Reakes, The English College, Dubai:

"It's great to have a starter that's timed and focuses the attention of everyone fully. I told them in advance I would do 10 then record their percentages."

Comment recorded on the 19 November 'Starter of the Day' page by Lesley Sewell, Ysgol Aberconwy, Wales:

"A Maths colleague introduced me to your web site and I love to use it. The questions are so varied I can use them with all of my classes, I even let year 13 have a go at some of them. I like being able to access Starters for the whole month so I can use favourites with classes I see at different times of the week. Thanks."

Notes:

Mathematics is a language but we also need to understand the language that describes mathematical concepts and techniques.

There are a number of lesson starters and interactive activities that are based around words. The words used are words that pupils will come across in their study of mathematics. By doing these activities pupils will become more familiar with those words, learn how to spell them and dispel misconceptions in some cases.

These activities also provide variety in the study of mathematics and the word games can provide fun and motivation during lessons.

Be aware that even amongst the English speaking nations there can be variations used with the way words are spelled, pronounced and applied but understanding this is all part of education. In an attempt to provide consistency on the Transum Website I am developing this Style Guide.

Vocabulary Teacher Resources:

Maths Anagrams: Jumbled words from a database of over 500 different mathematical words. Can you solve these anagrams?

Maths Words: The game of charades played with mathematical words. Choose easy, medium or hard words from our database of over 500 words.

Probability Words: A visual aid to highlight the vocabulary of probability and to debate the relationship between the given words.

Polygons: Name the polygons and show the number of lines and order of rotational symmetry.

Number Rhyme: A poem about the numbers one to nine. Just for fun can you make up a last line for each verse?

Circle Parts Kim's Game: A memory game to be projected to help the whole class revise the names for the parts of a circle.

Wordles: Remember these mathematical words for their shape and movement.

The Great Dodecahedron: Pupils are not allowed to use their hands to point but must describe fully any shapes they can see in this picture.

Code Cracking Presentation: A slide presentation showing techniques for cracking simple codes and ciphers.

Vocabulary Activities:

Position Practice: Use words for position and direction including left, right, in front, behind, under and above.

Writing Expressions: Listen to the voice saying the algebraic expression then write it in its simplest form.

Probability Washing Line: Hang out the washing on the line so that the probability words on the t-shirts are in order.

Words in Digits: Write the numbers given in words as digits and vice versa.

Numbers in Words: Find the five lettered mathematical words by matching numbers with their equivalent in words.

Camp Bosrow: Place the camping items into the plots on the camp site according to the clues given.

Polygons: Name the polygons and show the number of lines and order of rotational symmetry.

Mystery Numbers: If '7 D in a W' stands for 7 days in a week, what do you think these mystery numbers are?

Words and Concepts: Fill in the missing words to show an understanding of the vocabulary of equations, inequalities, terms and factors.

Circle Pairs: Find the matching pairs of circle diagrams and circle properties in this interactive online game.

M-Words: Here are clues to some mathematical words all beginning with the letter M. Can you figure out what they are?

Maths Crossword: An interactive mathematical crossword for you to do online. Find the missing words from the given clues.

Vowelless: Vowels have been taken out of mathematical words. Can you recognise them?

Hexblock Hunter: The mathematical version of TV's Blockbusters game show. Find the mathematical words from the clues.

Vocabero: Find the mathematical word from a series of guesses and clues.

Shark's Dinner: The mathematical version of the classic hangman game. Guess the letters that are contained in the words.

Mathanagrams: The letters of mathematical words have been mixed up. Can you recognise them?

The Great Dodecahedron: Pupils are not allowed to use their hands to point but must describe fully any shapes they can see in this picture.

Code Cracker: Crack the code by replacing the encrypted letters in the given text. There are lots of hints provided about code breaking techniques.

In-tents Story: Work out the mathematical words missing from the story about buying a tent.

Greek Letter Pairs: Match the names with the commonly used Greek letters.

Groups of Four: A simplified, mathematical version of the challenge seen in the British TV programme Only Connect. Find the connections between the terms.

Math vs Maths Pairs: Match the British and American words for mathematical concepts.

Vocabulary Investigations:

Four Ever: Generate a number sequence based on the number of letters needed to spell the previous number.

Vocabulary Videos:

Maths Without Words: A TED talk describing a visual approach to learning Maths from MIND Research.

Vocabulary Worksheets/Printables:

Parts of a Circle: A sheet of circles with nine parts named. The pupil is asked to draw the named parts.

Recap Crossword: Two small crossword puzzles based on Secondary school Maths topics.

Memorable Measures Notes: These are the printable cards to go with the activity called Memorable Measures.

Vocabulary External Links:

Links to other websites containing resources for Vocabulary are provided for those logged into 'Transum Mathematics'. Subscribing also opens up the opportunity for you to add your own links to this panel. You can sign up using one of the buttons below:

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Is there anything you would have a regular use for that we don't feature here? Please let us know.

Suggested

Math vs Maths Pairs

Math vs Maths Pairs

Match the British and American words for mathematical concepts.

The short web address is:

Transum.org/go/?to=mathvsmaths

 

Teaching Notes:

Many Transum activities have notes for teachers suggesting teaching methods and highlighting common misconceptions. There are also solutions to puzzles, exercises and activities available on the web pages when you are signed in to your Transum subscription account. If you do not yet have an account and you are a teacher, tutor or parent you can apply for one by completing the form on the Sign Up page.

A Transum subscription also gives you access to the 'Class Admin' student management system, downloadable worksheets, many more teaching resources and opens up ad-free access to the Transum website for you and your pupils.

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Friday, June 14, 2019

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