Creating a Classroom Math Alphabet

At the end of this past school year, we were deep into our state testing prep, and my students (and I) were getting bored. In an effort to review as much as possible, it felt like we were doing the same thing every day, all day. I wanted to find a fun activity that would break the rut we were in and would also keep my students reviewing their math skills.

About this same time, I was beginning the process of needing to pack up my classroom (as I’m moving rooms this year) and I was also thinking ahead to what changes I wanted to make for the upcoming school year.

The picture above is one I found of the alphabet posters from one of my first classrooms. Prior to this past year, I have always had an alphabet posted in my classroom. In my current position, I only teach math and science, so I didn’t have an alphabet posted in my classroom. By 5th grade, students probably don’t need to reference the alphabet as much as they do in lower grades, and they definitely wouldn’t need it for math or science.

Shameless plug – I made the above set of iPod inspired alphabet posters and they’re still one of my favorite products that I’ve made to date. And they’re also one of my earliest products ever. If you’re interested in this, I have them available in my store – you can get them in print, cursive, or a discounted bundle of the two sets. They’re all available in seven color choices. You can print all one color or mix and match to create a pattern.

Then I had an idea. What if I incorporated a math alphabet into the classroom? This activity could have two great purposes. I could have my current students create this alphabet, which would help them review their math terminology. And it would help my future students as they could reference the posters often and be reminded of what certain words mean. So, I created a set of blank alphabet letters and my students and I worked together to brainstorm math terms for each letter of the alphabet. Some of the letters were much harder than others, so this proved to be a challenge for us. But with the help of the internet and some creative stretching, we finally got a set of math terms that we were happy with. We talked about what each of the words meant and represented and then students chose the letters they wanted to design. On their letter, they had to pick at least three math words (for the letters that had multiple options) and they were tasked with drawing pictures and labeling each of the terms.

My students had a lot of fun creating these letters. When the upcoming school year begins, I’ll laminate and cut out these letters and hang them in my classroom for my new group of students to use! When I told my students the plan I had for these letters they were creating, they were happy to hear that their artwork would be in my new classroom! My only regret is not having them all write their names on the back so I could remember who designed which letter as I put them up each year!

I’ve put together a freebie with the templates that we used for our math alphabet. You can click the listing image at the bottom of this post to go directly to the listing where you can download it for free. Included in the file are the individual letters, a blank pages for brainstorming your own words, and a list of the words that my students and I came up with. You could do this activity at the end of the year, as I did. Or you could start your year with this activity. You could have students do review words from the past that would also help them that year, or you could use it as an opportunity to introduce some of the math terminology that you will be teaching that year. If you don’t teach math, you could even use the letter templates fit this to the subject that you teach. A science or social studies alphabet would be fun also!

If you choose to try out this activity in your classroom, I hope that your students enjoy it as much as mine did! Happy creating!