Use Color Coding to Make Connections in Math Class

There is an amazing connection our brain makes with color. From company logos to college pennants, we can recognize and remember names, brands, locations, and more by color alone. I encourage you to take this opportunity into your classroom and color code concepts within your lessons so your students can make connections there as well.

As math teachers, we can use color to associate within and distinguish between concepts like:

• slope vs y-intercept of a line;
• linear vs quadratic vs exponential functions;
• x-coordinates vs y-coordinates; and
• many other topics.

The benefits abound for our students when we work to make our lessons clear and organized. And, one tangible way we can do this is through color coding. Imagine the connections that can be made when we intentionally use color in our lessons.

Consider This

What if you were to always use green, for example, when you write the y-intercept in linear equations as your students learn about graphs, equations, and real life problem situations? Then, what if your students picked up on that pattern and used green as well for y-intercepts in their notes? And, what if they were able to see the y-intercept of a line on a graph, in the corresponding equation, and in the words used to describe the real life situation modeled by the math based on this intentional use of color?

Examples

The first image below is the beginning of notes for a lesson on calculating the slope of a line. The teacher would have defined slope as the steepness of a line and made connections to hiking up and down a mountain. Then, based on the example line of y=x, the teacher would have modeled how to use rise over run to calculate the slope.

Slope of a Line Notes without color coding

Now, the image below is from the same lesson as above, with the addition of color coding. Each connection to the y-value, or rise component of slope, is represented with red. And, each connection to the x-value, or run component of slope, is represented with blue.

Slope of a Line Notes with color coding

The addition of red and blue in these notes is a simple yet potentially impactful move to make the content more clear and more organized. I hope your mind is racing, considering color coding as you plan upcoming lessons!

Benefits for English Learners

To increase the comprehensible input for English Learners we can provide visual and graphical supports within our lessons. One way to do this is to color code content, connecting to previous lessons and organizing information as it is presented.

And, as we provide more clarity around our lessons with organized content, we are able to reduce the affective filter for our English Learners, decreasing unnecessary stress and anxiety in the classroom as they learn.

Color Choice

You may choose specific colors for any reason, but I encourage you to avoid contrasting concepts with red and green alone. Red-Green Color Vision Deficiency (also called color blindness) is the most common type of color vision deficiency, making it difficult to tell the difference between red and green (according to the National Eye Institute).

What ideas do you have to incorporate color coding in your lessons? Share your ideas in the comments.