Many times students are able to give you a definition of a math term, but they do not really understand the concept. Challenge them to sharpen their understanding of certain terms and concepts with a game of Math Taboo. We lifted this idea from a high school teacher in Brooklyn who uses Taboo with his ELL students.
In the classic game of Taboo, one player needs to get his teammates to guess his secret word without using 5 common related words.
To begin, give students a list of terms that you’d like them to define and have them brainstorm the most common words, “go-to words” that are used to describe them. Then have them play the game in groups to come up with more detailed definitions and deeper understandings of the concepts.
Make sure at least one student in each group records and compiles the definitions into a dictionary that can be shared with the class.
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