Word Problem Vocabulary

Preparation
Fifth Grade Math, ESL

Prepare your ELs for word problems involving income and money in this vocabulary-based lesson. Use this
lesson on its own or as support to the lesson Multi-Step Word Problems.

Objectives

Objectives

Academic

Students will be able to understand key vocabulary to help solve multi-step word problems.

Language

Students will be able explain the meaning of new vocabulary using graphic organizers and peer supports.

Materials and preparation Vocabulary

Teacher copy and class set of Frayer Model TIER 2

Group sets of chart paper with the Frayer Model
drawn on it
Write one of the following words on each
of the charts: "tax," "earn," "income,"
and "percentage"
Class set of Vocabulary Cards
One set of Vocabulary Cards cut into cards with
the definitions separated from the word (14 cut
pieces total)
Class set of Glossary
Teacher copy of Teach Background Knowledge
Template
Teacher copy of Write Student-Facing Language
Objectives Reference
earned: to receive money for work that you have
done
examples: something that shows what a group of
things is like
percentage: some part of a whole based on a total of
one hundred parts
save: to hold onto and not spend
taxes: money that you pay to a government
TIER 3

income: money you get from work that you do

nonexamples: something that shows the opposite of

what a group of things is like

total: the whole amount

Attachments

Graphic Organizer Template: Frayer Model (PDF)

Vocabulary Cards: Word Problem Vocabulary Preparation (PDF)
Glossary: Word Problem Vocabulary Preparation (PDF)
Teach Background Knowledge Template (PDF)
Write Student-Facing Language Objectives Reference (PDF)

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Math language routine

Numbered Heads Together

Introduction (5 minutes)

Ask students how much income they earn, or get every day. Allow them to think for a moment and then
share their answers with partners. Listen for their answers and write them on the board.
Begin a word map with the word income in the middle and ask students to define the term. Display the
vocabulary cards and read the meaning. Have students choral read the word and allow them to adjust
their previous answers about how much income they earn.
Draw a line out from the word income and write "earnings" and circle it. Ask volunteers to share ideas
about how they, or someone they know, gets earnings from work they do. Have volunteers share aloud
their answers.
Display the vocabulary card earn and define it. Start a sub-bubble from the oval "earnings" and write the
definition in the new bubble for the word "earn."
Say a word problem using the words "income" and "earn." For example, "Santi earns $30 every week
delivering newspapers. He saved all his money for four weeks. How much money does he have total?"
Have students tell you which words are the keywords in the problem (e.g., "earn," "save," "total," "four
weeks," etc.).
Tell students that today they'll learn about the meanings of words relating to money and income to help
them answer word problems in future lessons.

Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling (8 minutes)

Display and distribute the complete copy of the vocabulary cards and read the meanings of the words.
Have students repeat the meanings, say the words again, and then tell them an example of the word in a
sentence with familiar vocabulary. For example, say, "The principal taxed everyone $1 when they came
to school late. She made them pay $1 for being late."
Tell students that some of the vocabulary terms correspond with the meanings of words they'll find in
word problems (i.e., "income," "tax," "earn," etc.) and some of them will help them fill out a Frayer Model
(i.e., "nonexamples," "examples," etc.).
Model completing the Frayer Model for the word "tax." While thinking aloud what to place in each box,
you can model using an online dictionary for more meanings and ideas for nonexamples.
Review each section and have a student explain what they need to do in the section. Tell students they
will now work in groups to complete their own Frayer Model for their assigned words.

Guided Practice (10 minutes)

Conduct a jigsaw activity where each group of five students has a word they will use to complete a Frayer
Model on chart paper. Use the words "percentage," "income," "save," and "earn" and allow words to
repeat if you need more than four groups.
Model presenting your Frayer Model for the word "tax." Write the sentences on the board and then write
the sentence frames that correspond with the descriptions you shared:
"The meaning of the word ____ is ____."
"I drew the picture ____ because ____."
"An example of ____ is ____."
"A nonexample of ____ is ____."
Assign the five students in each group a number 1–5 and have them label the boxes in the Frayer Model
1–5 (excluding the word). The student with the corresponding number will present that section of the
Frayer Model for the group.

Group work time (8 minutes)

Have groups share the meanings of the words. While groups share, have students take notes on their
glossaries in the fourth column. Have students write one interesting thing they heard about the
vocabulary word from the group who presented. They can use the sentence stem, "I liked ____."

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 Give guidance to group presenters. Tell them to share each section of the square using the sentence
frames listed on the board from your modeled example.
Choose a few students to share the interesting idea from their glossary sheets.

Additional EL adaptations

Beginning

Allow students to use their home language (L1) or their new language (L2) in all discussions. Provide
bilingual reference materials to assist in their vocabulary word acquisition.
Encourage students to use the vocabulary cards and terms in their conversations and writing. Allow them
to draw pictures to support their understanding of the terms.
Add sentence frames to the Frayer Models students will complete throughout the lesson. Leave space for
them to draw pictures next to their sentences.
Have them practice their presentation in partners before saying it in front of the class.

Advanced

Pair students with mixed-ability groups so they can offer explanations and provide feedback to beginning
ELs when appropriate.
Have students work in the group that has the more difficult words, such as "income" or "percentage."
Ask them to share their ideas first to model phrases other students can use. Write some of their
explanations on the board to serve as examples for others.

Assessment (6 minutes)

Distribute the pre-cut vocabulary cards so that each student has either a definition or a vocabulary term.
Ask students to find their partners by matching the pre-cut vocabulary cards. Once they find their match,
have them review the terms by either defining it, creating a sentence, or giving a synonym of the word.
Then, ask students to complete their own Frayer Model for their vocabulary term.

Review and closing (3 minutes)

Refer back to the word problem from the Introduction section and ask a volunteer to reread the problem.
Point to the keyword (i.e., earnings) and ask students to turn and talk to their partners about the meaning
and what what the word means for the word problem.
Have a student tell you what operation they would need for the words "earned," "saved," and "four
weeks." Then, model saying the problem with no numbers involved. For example, "Santi saved his money
for weeks. How much money does he have saved?"
Tell students that knowing key vocabulary within word problems can help them understand the problem
and easily rephrase it in their own words.

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Name: ______________________________________________________ Date: ______________________________

Frayer Model
Directions: Write your vocabulary word in the “Vocabulary Term” oval. Complete the rest of the
sections for the vocabulary term in your own words.

Definition: Sentence:

Vocabulary Term:

Examples: Non-Examples:

Image Representation:

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 Vocabulary Cards
EL Support Lesson Plan: Word Problem Vocabulary Preparation

earned examples

to receive money for something that shows

work that you have done what a group of things is like

income nonexamples

something that shows the

money you get from opposite of what
work that you do a group of things is like

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 Vocabulary Cards
EL Support Lesson Plan: Word Problem Vocabulary Preparation

percentage save

some part of a whole to hold onto and

based on a total not spend
of one hundred parts

taxes total

money that you pay

to a government the whole amount

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 Glossary for EL Support Lesson PLAN:
Word Problem Vocabulary Preparation

Word Definition Visual

to receive money for

earned work that you have done

something that shows what

examples a group of things is like

money you get from

income work that you do

something that shows the

nonexamples opposite of what a
group of things is like

some part of a whole

percentage based on a total
of one hundred parts

to hold onto
save and not spend

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Glossary for EL Support Lesson PLAN:
Word Problem Vocabulary Preparation

Word Definition Visual

money that you

taxes pay to a government

total the whole amount

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 Teach Background Knowledge
Lesson Topic:
Choose a topic from the main content
lesson that will help ELs understand the
main content lesson. Your non-ELs will
already have knowledge about this topic.

Total Lesson Time:

(20 - 30 minutes)

Student-Facing Language
Objective:
Example: I can learn new vocabulary
using pictures and sentence frames.

Student ELP Level(s):

Consider each student’s ELP level and
their academic strengths when choosing
scaffolds for the lesson.

Groupings (pairs, small-groups, a teacher-led group)

Potential Scaffolds:
Choose some of these material supports
and instructional scaffolds based on each
EL’s individual strengths and needs.
Word banks, word wall, and bilingual glossaries
Sentence frames, sentence stems, and paragraph frames
Home language materials
Reduced linguistic load, repetition, rephrasing and modeling
Practice new academic skills with familiar topics

Materials & Resources List

List the materials you’ll use in the lesson.

Key Vocabulary Words (5-8 words)

List the words with student-friendly
definitions in English. Provide
definitions in student’s home language
when appropriate.

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Introduction
Access EL’s prior knowledge about the
lesson topic with a brief comprehension
check.

Potential activities:
Creating captions for images
Opinionnaires
Carousel brainstorming
Conversations with sentence starters
Time estimate for Introduction
(3 - 5 minutes)

Explicit Instruction of
Background Knowledge
Model a learning activity that embeds
the teaching of academic language and
background knowledge.

Potential activities:
Lunch brunch discussion
Teacher-created, adjusted text and
questions
Brief videos or visuals
Text-based instruction
Home-language connections
Pre-teach a small number of
vocabulary words
Show real-world objects
Complete word family or bilingual
glossaries
Word walls or word bank creation

Time Estimate for Explicit Instruction

(4 - 6 minutes)

Guided Practice
Provide an opportunity for students (in
pairs or small groups) to practice the skill
or information taught during Explicit
Instruction, offering appropriate
scaffolds as needed.

Time Estimate for Guided Practice

(5 - 7 minutes)
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 Formative Assessment
Ask students to show comprehension of
new background knowledge and
associated skills through an oral or
written task. Provide appropriate
scaffolds dependent on their ELP level.

Potential assessments:
Act out concepts
Hands on tasks
Drawings, models, or graphs
Graphic organizer completion
Captions of images
Reading response or content
area logs
Retellings
Role plays
Audio or video recordings
Oral interviews

Time estimate for Assessment

(5 - 7 minutes)

Review and Closing

Refer to the student objective and relate
information to future lessons. Allow
students to share thoughts about
whether they reached their objective
and/or mention lingering questions.
Provide sentence stems or frames for their
discussion.

Time estimate for Review and Closing

(3 - 5 minutes)

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 Write Student-Facing Language Objectives
A student-facing language objective: A teacher-facing language objective:
begins with “I can...” begins with “Students will be able to...”
is designed to raise students' self-awareness of and is designed to raise students' self-awareness of and
promote their language development. promote their language development.
incorporates a language function, grammar structure, and incorporates a language function, grammar structure, and
supports or scaffolds. supports or scaffolds.
is easy to understand for students at all levels of is intended to guide the teacher’s lesson planning
English proficiency. and instruction.

Steps to convert a teacher-facing objective to a student-facing objective:

1. Replace “Students will be able to” with “I can.”
2. Simplify challenging words but maintain key vocabulary words you’ll address in the lesson.

Students will be able to describe a character with adjectives using graphic organizers.
Language Grammar Support/
Function Structure Scaffold

I can talk about a character with adjectives using graphic organizers.

Language Grammar Support/
Function Structure Scaffold

Language Functions Grammar Structures Supports/Scaffolds

locate create identify nouns adverbs graphic organizers sentence starters

show describe infer modals academic vocabulary teacher modeling strategic grouping
sort ask questions interpret verb forms adjectives word banks/walls home language supports
tell brainstorm collect conjunctions phrases
contrast classify compare sentence structure prepositions
pronouns complex sentences
comparatives
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