Word Puzzles for Mathematics

Knowing the language of math can really help to support understanding. This book of puzzles is packed with ideas for helping students in the middle grades become familiar with math terms and what they mean.

We all know that math is about numbers and solving problems, but it’s also about words and how they are used. This book of puzzles takes the special language of math and provides a variety of fun contexts for finding out about and practicing that language using familiar contexts.

The puzzles include crosswords, word searches and cloze activities that will help to reinforce new words and phrases for a range of topics in the math curriculum. Each puzzle is themed and includes activities across these math topics:
      • Numbers and operations
      • Algebra
      • Integers
      • Percentages
      • Statistics
      • Probability
      • Angles and directions
      • Symmetry
      • Transformations
      • and much more!

The puzzles are suitable for individuals and pairs working together. In addition to supplementing in-class math work, the puzzles can be copies and kept in a box to have ready for substitute teachers or for fun and engaging homework activities. There are 50 puzzles, and answers are included for ease of self-marking.

Download the Table of Contents page here.

Grades 5–8.