Integrating 3-D Shapes and Literacy

Right before our Christmas break, ALuv finished up a unit on 3-D shapes.  I wanted to share some of the simple ways we integrated literacy into our unit.

A 3-D Shape Hunt

I took a piece of large construction paper and folded it in half hot dog style.  I cut six slits and wrote the name of six 3-D shapes (these were the main six that we focused on in this unit).

I read each of the 3-D names to him and we matched up each shape.  I was disappointed that the set I bought at the store didn’t have any spheres, but we made do with a bouncy ball.  The number one rule of anything: be flexible.

I found some free printable 3-D shapes online, cut them out & ALuv glued them down.

Then, we went on a shape hunt around the house, looking for objects that matched up with each 3-D shape.  As we found them, he drew a picture and labeled them.

Can You Make a Tower With…

On index cards, I wrote out combinations of 3-D shaped blocks he could use to build a tower.  He read the cards and used those 3-D shapes to build the tower described.

Making a tower with as many rectangular prisms as he could

What Shape is my Face?

This one was another very simple way to integrate some reading.

We took the 3-D shapes and sorted them by their face shapes under the categories: Square or Circle.

3-D Shapes: How They Move

This was one of my favorite lessons because it integrated math, science, reading, and logic/comprehension.  He sorted the shapes Venn-Diagram style (with hoola hoops).

First, by SLIDES or ROLLS

A great way to recycle a baby wipe box…hehe.

Then by STACKS or WILL NOT STACK

I thought it interesting that he put the pyramids, cones, and cylinders in the middle overlapping space (both will and will not stack).  He explained that the pyramids and cones will stack, but only if they’re placed on the top of a tower.  The cylinders will stack on top of each other when their faces are stacked together, but if you lay them on their side, they won’t stack.  Sounded logical.

We then looked through his bin of blocks and discussed why the people who made this toy decided to use certain 3-D shapes (cylinders, rectangular prisms, cubes, etc.) and not others (spheres).

Making 3-D Shapes

One of the last activities we did with 3-D shapes was building them.  The medium: toothpicks, marshmallows & play-doh.  What a combination! 🙂  He was faced with the questions: Which shapes can you make with marshmallows & toothpicks? & Which shapes can you make best with play dough?

After making his creations…

rectangular prism

cone

…he sorted the 3-D shapes based on the two questions and we discussed WHY we weren’t able to make all the shapes with the marshmallows and toothpicks (another way to integrate some comprehension into the lesson).  I think his favorite part of the lesson was eating all the marshmallows!  Okay, it was mine, too. 🙂

Although I didn’t read any books that pertained to 3-D shapes with our unit, this one looks good.  Really, any of the MathStart books are great to integrate some reading into math.  I have several of them.

Integrating literacy into other content areas is such a simple tool to cover multiple objectives and create a lesson that reaches the child at many different levels.

Thank you for joining This Reading Mama on a literacy journey!

~Becky