Cluster 1: Reason with shapes and their attributes. (Additional Cluster)Archived

In this game, learners use clues to identify mystery shapes. Use everyday objects (like from the pantry) as the shapes. It is important for learners to be able to describe a shape with correct math vocabulary and to be able to visualize a shape in their head.

Type: Educational Game

Students partition a rectangle into two equal parts and then describe the parts.

Type: Formative Assessment

Students are asked to share a rectangular cake between two people and then among four people and decide which results in smaller pieces.

Type: Formative Assessment

Students are shown a square in various orientations and asked if it is still a square.

Type: Formative Assessment

Students fold a picture of a circular pizza into four equal parts and then are asked to describe each part.

Type: Formative Assessment

Students discuss the defining and non-defining attributes of rectangles.

Type: Formative Assessment

Students draw two triangles and are prompted to describe the triangles in terms of defining attributes.

Type: Formative Assessment

Students are asked to partition a rectangle into halves.

Type: Formative Assessment

Students view a composite shape with a missing piece and identify shapes that can fill in the space.

Type: Formative Assessment

Students use triangles to compose a trapezoid.

Type: Formative Assessment

Students compose new shapes from equilateral triangles and a trapezoid.

Type: Formative Assessment

Students join right triangles together to compose a rectangle and then use the rectangle to compose a new shape. Students describe this new shape made from the composite shape.

Type: Formative Assessment

Students draw two hexagons and are asked to justify their drawings.

Type: Formative Assessment

Students use different three dimensional shapes to compose a composite shape.

Note: This task includes the use of triangular prisms.

Type: Formative Assessment

Build a New Shape is a lesson for building composite shapes from triangle(s), square(s) and trapezoid(s). This lesson uses a story and certain pattern block manipulative to help students to gain this skill.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson focuses only on partitioning circles and rectangles into two equal shares, describing the shares with the word half/halves and half of. Students will be partitioning paper pizzas and cakes to learn the concepts and then building pizzas through a game.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will be partitioning shapes into halves and fourths. The class will get a letter from a zoo requesting their help in solving some problems with designing the layout of animal enclosures.

Type: Lesson Plan

The purpose of this lesson is for students to examine defining and non-defining attributes of 3-dimensional figures. Students compare and contrast various representations of 3-dimensional figures (including real-world objects) to determine what the solid must have, compared to what it might have. This exploration is also supported by sorting 3-dimensional figures.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, the students will use two-dimensional pattern blocks to compose new shapes and fill in composite outlines of shapes.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson students will describe attributes of triangles, rectangles, squares, and hexagons and identify these shapes by their attributes. Given the name of one of these shapes, students will use their knowledge of the shape's attributes to represent the shape with a sketch.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will learn how to partition circles into halves and quarters/fourths and examine how partitioning a circle into more equal shares creates smaller shares.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this MEA the students are to decide what criteria is the most important for a company to consider when choosing life jackets. Students will use data tables of qualitative information to solve the problem.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson practices the partitioning a whole to equal shares for halves, fourths, and quarters through pizza and candy bar manipulatives. Students are then challenged to demonstrate how many different ways they can fold a square sticky note into fourths!

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, the students will partition circles and rectangles into halves and fourths in order to gain a solid foundation for fractions.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will gain experience partitioning rectangle and circles into equal shares of halves and fourths and naming the parts appropriately.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this introductory lesson on halves, pairs of students will rotate through math stations to prepare for a picnic. They will use paper materials to represent wholes and partition each whole into halves, using applicable mathematics vocabulary.

Type: Lesson Plan

Use this interactive lesson to help your students learn about fractions by partitioning circles and rectangles into two, three, or equal-sized parts and by using a real life scenario.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will work collaboratively to identify and sketch shapes with defining and non-defining attributes.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson students explore the composing of new shapes from other two-dimensional shapes. The students will utilize math benchmarks as they analyze math solutions and explain their solutions. Since the lesson uses composing, it is also a good lesson to use to show decomposing (taking a shape apart).

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will use pattern blocks to create a quilt square for the Quick Quilters Society. They will have to consider information on a data chart to help them create their squares. They will have to add up the cost to make their square, too.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson uses a discovery approach to exploring the meaning of halves and fourths. The students will utilize math benchmarks as they analyze math solutions and explain their solutions. This lesson also teaches students that they can decompose larger sized parts to make smaller sized parts.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson, students will gain a foundation for fractions by partitioning circles and rectangles into two equal-sized shares.

Type: Lesson Plan

The students will use pattern blocks to build and draw new composite geometric shapes, ultimately using composite shapes to form a creature.

Type: Lesson Plan

This lesson focuses on the beginning understanding of fractions through fair-sharing. Students will partition circles and rectangles into 2 and 4 equal-sized parts and be able to describe these parts using appropriate language such as halves and fourths.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will partition circles and rectangles into four equal-sized parts. This is a foundational building block of fractions. Students should also develop an understanding of the idea of the whole. This is part of a series of lessons dealing with the foundation for fractions. The other two lessons are Resource ID 46582 and 46846. Throughout the three lessons the students are creating a Fraction Book.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will partition circles and rectangles into two and four equal-sized parts. They will also explore and discuss the concept that decomposing into more equal shares creates smaller shares. This is a foundational building block of fractions. Students should also develop an understanding of the idea of the whole. This is part of a series of lessons dealing with the foundation for fractions. The other two lessons are Resource IDs 46582 and 46764. Throughout the three lessons the students are creating a Fraction Book.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will partition circles and rectangles into two equal-sized parts. This is a foundational building block of fractions. Students should also develop an understanding of the idea of the whole. This is part of a series of lessons dealing with the foundation for fractions. The other two lessons are Resource ID 46764 and 46846. Throughout the three lessons the students are creating a Fraction Book.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this hands-on lesson, students will become Shape Detectives as they identify the two-dimensional shapes, such as triangles, squares and rectangles, needed to build three-dimensional figures including rectangular prisms, square pyramids and cubes. The students will gain an understanding of how two-dimensional shapes are joined together to form three-dimensional figures as well as creating an edible example!

Type: Lesson Plan

Learn about the defining attributes of trapezoids in this interactive tutorial series about shapes.

Click below to learn about other shapes.

• Shape Sleuths: Triangles
• Shape Sleuths: Hexagons

Note: This tutorial uses the definition of trapezoid that includes exactly one pair of parallel sides.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Help find clues to identify rectangles and squares and their defining attributes in this interactive tutorial.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Learn the attributes, or characteristics, of a circle in this interactive tutorial.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Learn about the defining attributes of hexagons in this interactive tutorial series about shapes.

Click below to learn about other shapes.

• Shape Sleuths: Triangles

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Learn about the defining attributes of triangles in this interactive tutorial series about shapes.

Click below to learn about other shapes.

• Shape Sleuths: Hexagons

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Be a hero and partition circles and rectangles into four equal shares. Describe equal shares using the words "fourths" and "quarters" in this interactive tutorial.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Help the heroes separate circles and rectangles into equal shares and describe the equal shares as "halves" or "half of" as you complete this interactive tutorial. 

Type: Original Student Tutorial

The purpose of this task is to give students an opportunity to compose and decompose polygons to make rectangles. This is a challenging problem for first graders and it would be inappropriate to use it as an assessment.

Type: Problem-Solving Task

The purpose of this task is to give students a hands-on experience with composing and decomposing geometric figures and is meant as an instructional task.

Type: Problem-Solving Task

The purpose of this task is to give students an opportunity to compose and decompose squares. This is a challenging problem for first graders and it would be inappropriate to use it as an assessment. However, if presented as a brainteaser it can be useful for giving the students practice in recognizing squares and stimulate interest as students compete to try to find the most squares.

Type: Problem-Solving Task

This activity gives students practice drawing straight lines with a ruler and looking for and categorizing shapes, for example, by the number of sides in polygons. The Teachers' Notes page includes suggestions for implementation, discussion questions and ideas for extension.

Type: Teaching Idea

To give students opportunities to recognize, describe, build, and explore shapes in many different contexts.

Type: Teaching Idea

This virtual manipulative allows you to create, color, enlarge, shrink, rotate, reflect, slice, and glue geometric shapes, such as: squares, triangles, rhombi, trapezoids and hexagons.

Type: Virtual Manipulative

This virtual manipulative allows students to draw geometric shapes and then decompose and recompose them into other shapes, using slides, turns, and flips to cut and move pieces around.

Type: Virtual Manipulative