In math, ALuv has been working on shapes. I thought I’d share some things we’ve done with 2-D shapes that he has enjoyed. Some of these ideas mix in some literacy…an added bonus!! 🙂 I’m a HUGE fan of integrating the content areas as much as possible.
Counting the sides: Shape Introduction
I laid out number cards 0-8 and we sorted shapes by their # of sides/angles (oval, circle, triangle, rectangle, square, trapezoid, small & large parallelograms, hexagon, & octagon). To integrate some literacy, my download is a sort that has shapes & number words instead of numerals. Here are some great discussions we had after sorting all the shapes (some of these questions are on pg. 2 of the download):
- why there aren’t any shapes with 1 or 2 sides
- we noticed how many of our shapes were quadrilaterals (a great vocabulary term)
- we discussed the term parallelogram and we figured out which of our quadrilaterals were and weren’t parallelograms (just in case you’re wondering, the trapezoid is not a parallelogram b/c it’s opposite sides are not all parallel, but the other ones in our sort are)
Making Pictures with Shapes
ALuv made a picture with the pattern block shapes,
graphed how many of each shape he used on this graph,
then recorded the number of shapes he used on this chart.
Shape Writing
I think I originally saw this idea in a Mailbox magazine years ago. ALuv picked a shape, glued it into the top of his writing paper, then made a picture to go around the shape and wrote about it.
My rectagl (rectangle) is a spekr (speaker) on the TV.
Tangram Puzzles
We started by making our own tangrams, then played around with some Thanksgiving tangrams.
I also like using Karen’s FREE tangrams. To make it more challenging for ALuv, I trace around just the outside lines of her tangrams, like I did with this Christmas tree. After he has filled it in one way, I usually challenge him to try a different way. Sometimes I’ll give him a specific challenge. And again, at other times, he’ll use this chart to show the different ways he filled it in.
I love our tangram set because it’s multi-leveled (for ages 4-8) AND it gives an answer sheet to help a mama out. I need all the help I can get with this baby brain of mine! I had ALuv read many of the directions this time…which was a great review with reading his number words 1-10.
Shape Word Puzzles
As a student, I HATED word problems. As a teacher/mama, I love them. What a great way to integrate literacy, comprehension, and math; not to mention word problems help kids to apply the knowledge they know to real-life situations.
When I taught, a co-worker of mine (a.k.a. the best teacher I’ve ever known) made this word problem worksheet. I’ve typed it up for you to download. This was a great way for ALuv to review shapes, reading & decoding, comprehension, writing numerals, & using counting on and logic to solve the problems. Having that many objectives covered in one lesson makes This Reading Mama happy! 🙂
Shape Reading
I read The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns and ALuv sorted the names of shapes with sides/angles 3-10 on our pocket chart. We had some great discussions through this book, like: Just what is the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.?
Other Shape Books This Reading Mama likes:
- The Shape of Things
- Shapes, Shapes, Shapes
- Grandfather Tang’s Story
- Three Pigs, One Wolf, & Seven Magic Shapes
- Mouse Shapes– This one is new to me, but we have all the other Mouse books by Ellen Stoll Walsh, so I bet this one is a keeper as well!
Need any more ideas for teaching and reviewing shapes? Check out this FREE and AWESOME online resource. The ideas are hands-on and interactive; my favorite kind of lesson.
Next we’re going to move onto 3-D shapes and I’m excited about the activities I have planned!
Thank you for joining This Reading Mama on a literacy journey!
~Becky
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