General Information
Benchmark Instructional Guide
Connecting Benchmarks/Horizontal Alignment
Terms from the K-12 Glossary
- Circle
- Rectangle
- Square
- Triangle
Vertical Alignment
Previous Benchmarks
Next Benchmarks
Purpose and Instructional Strategies
The purpose of this benchmark is for students to build on their understanding of classification of two-dimensional figures by finding similarities and differences between shapes (MTR.5.1).- Instruction includes opportunities for students to sort images based on various criteria, such as same number of sides, and figures with all straight sides (MTR.2.1, MTR.5.1).
- Instruction includes helping students describe objects based on relative positions. Relative position refers to students identifying left/right, in front of/behind, apart and above/below. When comparing figures students should understand that relative position can change even though the other features of the figures stay the same.
- Instruction includes figures of various sizes and orientations, and may include figures that are not triangles, circles, rectangles or squares (MTR.2.1).
- Instruction includes examples of squares when discussing rectangles.
- Right angles are technically not addressed until grade 4, but it is appropriate to discuss “square corners” and corners that are not square in an informal way in Kindergarten.
Common Misconceptions or Errors
- Students may not understand that all squares are also classified as rectangles; however, only specific rectangles (with sides that are the same length) are also classified as squares.
- Students may sort figures separately because of orientation and/or size rather than the identified attributes of the figures.
Strategies to Support Tiered Instruction
- Teacher provides plane shapes (circles, squares, triangles, rectangles) for students to
sort.
- For example, instruction includes sorting shapes by how they are the same or by how they are different. The teacher asks follow up questions such as, “How did you decide to sort the shapes? How many sides does this group have?”
Instructional Tasks
Instructional Task 1 (MTR.2.1, MTR.4.1)
Using the figures below, create sorting cards for students. Provide each student in a group with their own set of figures to sort. Ask each student to sort the figures in any way they choose. Once students have sorted their figures, give each student time to share about their choices, and explain how they sorted their figures (by shape, straight sides and circles, filled and not filled or number of sides). Once students have shared, ask them to sort their figures in a new way. Give time for sorting and sharing again. Repeat the task as needed.
Instructional Task 2
Identify which of the figures below are rectangles and describe their relative positions.
Instructional Items
Instructional Item 1
Cross out all of the figures that have 4 sides.
Instructional Item 2
How many figures have straight sides?*The strategies, tasks and items included in the B1G-M are examples and should not be considered comprehensive.