We spent lots of time identifying, describing, and sorting three-dimensional objects. Many of our families contributed to our 3D figures museum in the classroom. During the math inquiry our goal wa…
2D shape activities for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten. Shape mats (legos, geoboards, etc), play dough mats, posters, sorting mats, worksheets, & MORE.
Do your kids love to draw? This shape creation book is a fun way to let your kiddos show their creativity while they are practicing shapes....
Shapes and playdough seem like such a great combination, right? Playing with something fun like playdough all while learning about shapes! I knew it was a winning combination and thus, the shape playdough mats were created! They're great for open-ended play or more directed learning. There are so many great ways to learn about and work
This week, math officially became the most treasured time of the day. Oh my, the "power" of learning when kids are excited! Through our weekly explorations, my kids created interactive shape books with activities to house the work from this entire week. For those that are unfamiliar with Mouse Shapes, it's about three mice that find themselves running from a cat the entire story. In an attempt to hide, the torn paper mice find a pile of shapes. With synergy, the mice construct different objects using the shapes. After the cat pounces, the mice develop a plan to scare the cat away. This story is an enchanting way to review shapes and introduce composing. I purchased my book with felt retelling props from Artfelt.net. All the felt pieces are simply irresistible. Do you see why my kids are enchanted with the props? The props perfectly align with the book and allow the kids to visualize how to compose shapes. There are so many resources made available for shapes. At the end of the post, I will link a few freebies and activities I used this week. For now, here's a glimpse into my week... The following images are previews from the unit I created to support our learning. Click the image to purchase Mouse Shape felt set. The following file is available in the Mouse Shape Unit. I'm also providing this portion as a freebie file so that your kids may manipulate the story. Click the image to purchase Five Busy Shapes felt set. On Wednesday, I used Anna Brantley's Guess My Rule Freebie for a partner work-time assignment. She has a few freebies for attributes in her blog post. Click image below to link. On Friday, I used Katie Mense's Drawing Shapes unit. I displayed the various pages for guided drawing of shape formations. After, we worked on creating shape books, extending our lesson into writer's workshop. Here is a sample of one book... A few fun freebies to align with Mouse Shapes include Mouse Shape Retelling Props at Read Rabbit Read. Learn colors and the result of mixing them with a freebie unit to align with Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh. This file is available from 123 Homeschool 4 Me. Kathy Law has terrific games and freebies for Mouse Count, Mouse, Shapes, and Mouse Paint. Her blog post for Mouse Count is jammed pack full of freebies to snag. A few activities of Kathy Law that I plan to use in centers this week include Roll a Shape freebie and Mouse Shapes game. To extend on our attributes lessons from last week, I will open each day with shape songs. Shapes Song (Tune: 'Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush') Author: Unknown This is a (square) as you can see. It has (4 sides all the same). This is a (square) as you can see. Now draw it in the air with me! Other verses: Rectangle: 2 short sides and 2 long Circle: goes around without an end Triangle: 3 corners and 3 sides Oval: goes around, but is squished in Another center for this week will be to create shape collages as inspired by Miss Renee's Kindergarten Pad. Prior to shape collages, I will begin my instruction with the book, When a Line Bends... A Shape Ends. Click the book image to link to several freebies I shared a few years ago.
Making body shapes is a great movement game for preschoolers, kindergarteners and grade school kids, it's easy to play indoors and out and heaps of fun!
A fun and FREE way to explore various shapes and see how they fit together in the world around us! Fun for ages 4-7!
Kids will have fun using this free shapes printable pack to learn about shapes while creating picture and practice writing too!
NGSS LS1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes Use of Bones for Shape: includes a 45 minute inquiry-based lesson plan to help young scientists develop an understanding of how the external and internal systems of the human body work interdependently. The focus of this lesson is on how bones give shape to the body. NOTE: it does include using a tent! Packet includes: Learning Target Overview of topic, with suggestions for inquiry activities Detailed 5Es Lesson Plan with an Inquiry Activity, which includes: real pictures multiple suggestions for sections worksheets/printables in color worksheets/printables in black and white Human Body Performance Task Exit Tickets Tips for Process Differentiation Skeletal System fact sheet Skeleton System: poster, handout, handout with blank spaces (for guided note-taking) Pictures of skulls, ribs, and a full skeleton (use as handouts or for class display) This is UNIT 2 of 7 from the BUNDLE Systems of the Human Body t, which is for sale in my store: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Systems-of-the-Human-Body-Unit-on-Inquiry-Note-taking-Performance-Assessment-492156 Please rate me if you have time. Thanks for visiting! http://mrscolegrovesfourthgrade.blogspot.com/ http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Stacey-Colegrove Copyright © 2012 Stacey Colegrove
Learning about patterns through inquiry based learning in reading, math, science, and social studies
*If you want to see what I did for 2D Shapes in 2015 click here!* Week 3 and 4 was all about 2D shapes in math! I like starting with 2D shapes because it is something that most of the kids already know and feel successful about. Here is the plan I made to keep me on track. Click on the picture to download a copy! We started by introducing the vocabulary 2D shapes, circle, triangle, square, rectangle, sides and vertices. On the first day we did the first 2 columns of this anchor chart. I made up and used this diagnostic checklist so that I knew how much the kids already knew about shapes. Click on either picture to download the freebie! On the second day we watched "The Very Greedy Triangle" by Marilyn Burns on YouTube. Then we talked about and recorded where we see shapes around us in the examples column. Here are all of the videos that we watched during our 8-day unit. The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns Shapes Song by Kids TV SHAPES by Pancake Manor The Shapes Song by KidsTV123 On the third day I introduced some more shapes with these mini shape posters by The First Grade Parade and then taped them on our cabinets so the students can use them as a resource. You can find them here. The kids used them as a reference to spell the names of the shapes all week long! Next we worked on comparing and sorting shapes. And then did some problem solving questions to challenge my high achievers. This one is Tanya's shape mentioned in Day 8. Use a name of a student in your class where it is blurred! This one was a tricky lesson but my high achievers liked the challenge! We didn't end up doing the sorting quadrilaterals lesson this year (mentioned in Day 6) but what you do is gather shapes that are half quadrilaterals (have a variety like rhombus, trapezoid, square etc.) and not quadrilateral. Get students to sit in a circle and pass out a shape to each student. Put the hoola hoop in the middle. Tell students you are going to make up a sorting rule in your head and they need to guess the sorting rule at the end. Then ask students one by one to put their shape outside or inside the hoola hoop. The first few will just have to guess where their shape goes. If they get it right I say "That matches my sorting rule, you can keep your shape there". If it doesn't I say "Sorry, that doesn't match my sorting rule, please move your shape inside/outside the hoola hoop". At the end students guess the sorting rule. If you have a big class you can get them to guess half way and then make up a new sorting rule for the rest so the ones who have figured the rule out early won't be sitting there bored ;) We displayed our learning on our bulletin board/wall in the hallway. Here are the learning goals and success criterias I posted with our work: And some close-ups of the "shape pictures" that I put up under "show". My ECE sat with the students and coached them on how to draw the shapes and label their pictures. She had the shape manipulatives out so they could copy the shapes they wanted. They turned out so cute and I was surprised how well they could draw already! This activity was open during centre time. The students searched in calendars to find real life shapes, cut them out and glued them on to the corresponding giant shapes made from construction paper. Here are just some of the centres that were open during our 2D shape unit: Sorting tangrams by shape. You can find these mats by clicking here or on the picture below. Making shapes on geoboards. The example pages are from "Geoboard It! A Fun Math and Geometry Station" by First Grade Blue Skies. At "Shake a Shape" there are shapes hot glued on to the inside of the egg carton. A pom pom is placed inside and the student shakes the carton, open it up and traces the shape the pom pom landed on. This activity can be found in "Backpack Boogie" by Growing Kinders. My kids LOVE playdough! These shape mats are a freebie from Miss Kindergarten. On a different day my ECE put out tangrams and asked them to find out how many tangram squares fit in a square, how many tangram triangles fit in the triangle etc. We also used these shape puzzles... and I finally got some insertable dice so we played this game called "Schoolhouse Shapes" from "The Bus Stops Here" pack by The First Grade Parade. The students roll the dice and cover the shape they roll. The first person to cover their whole mat is the winner! I also put these two games on the SMARTBoard for the kids to play. You can find them both at abcya.com. Click on K then scroll down to "more". If you made it this far, thank you for reading! I wish I could share all of the wonderful centres my ECE thought of and put out but I didn't get a chance to take pictures of everything. I hope that you find something useful that you can implement in your own classroom in this post! What is your favourite activity/centre for 2D shapes? Please leave me a comment and let me know! I am always looking for new ideas!
Learning about patterns through inquiry based learning in reading, math, science, and social studies
Construction themed activities and centers inspiration is HERE! Get out your planner, and let’s plan a ton of fun and engaging construction-themed activities your little learners (Preschool, Pre-k, and kindergarten)...
Download patterns matching worksheets for preschool and kindergarten class. Link to free printable included.
Here is a very simple, but at the same time quite an insightful personality test. All you have to do is to look at the proposed geometric shapes and choose the one that you think best represents you as a person. In other words, choose the shape that you can clearly identify yourself with. Then arrange the remaining shapes in order of preference. Square The tireless worker. Exhibits hard work, diligence, perseverance, and always strives for completion. Patience and a methodical nature make squares skilled specialists. A Square collects information, and has it neatly organized on his shelves, he is able to quickly retrieve the desired facts and earns a deserved reputation of being a scholar in his field. The Square refers to left hemisphere thinkers, who are characterized by logical thought and mathematical mindsets. Squares analyze and calculate answers to problems, rather than trusting instinct or inference. Square’s ideal is a planned, regular, life where everything is predictable. They do not like the unexpected or surprises. In the business world, such people often become good administrators and executives but rarely succeed as managers because the constant need for additional information for decision-making deprives them of their speed. In addition, their cold rationality often prevents squares from quickly connecting with other people. Triangle This form symbolizes leadership. Main ability of triangles is to focus on goals and deeply and quickly analyze situations. A Triangle is a very confident person who wants to be right in everything. Triangles find it difficult to admit their mistakes, are easy to train, and absorb information like a sponge. Their career gives their life meaning. Negative qualities: excessive self-absorption. Triangles are very good at presenting the importance of their own work to senior management, can sense profitable business decisions from a mile away, and, struggling for success, may “knock heads” with rivals. Rectangle Is a transitional form from one shape to another. People that see themselves as Rectangles are not satisfied with their lives and are busy looking for chances to better their circumstances. The main mental state of a rectangle is a perceived sense of confusion, bogged by their problems and uncertainty. Their most important features are inconsistent and unpredictable behavior and low self-esteem. Positive qualities: curiosity, inquisitiveness, a lively interest in everything, courage. Tries to do things that have never been done, asks questions that he did not have the spirit for before. Circle The Circle is a symbol of harmony. Those who choose this shape are interested in good interpersonal relations. The highest value for the circle is people and their well being. This is the most benevolent of the five figures. The Circle is the glue that holds the team or the family together. They stabilize the group and have a high capacity for sympathy and empathy. Circles feel the pain and joy of others as their own. They are right-brain thinkers, not logical but creative and more emotionally charged. The processing of information in such people is not consistent and resembles a mosaic pattern. The main feature of their style of thinking is a focus on the subjective aspects of the problem. Zigzag The Zigzag is a symbol of creativity. The Zigzag focuses on imagery. The right-brain thinking zigzag is not fixated on the details, which simplifies the way he views the world, this allows him to construct a holistic and harmonious conceptual view of the world, to see its intrinsic beauty. The Zigzag can not work in one place for a long time – this is after all, boring and there are so many other interesting things to see and experience! The main purpose of the zigzag is the generation of new ideas and methods, and not their actual realization. The Zigzag looks to the future and is more interested in possibilities than in reality.
This is an easy, fun experiment to find out how strong different shapes are.
3-D Shape Hunt {Freebie}
Hi friends! We just wrapped up one of my favorite units…2D shapes! I LOVE this unit because it’s an nice break from the addition and subtraction we do the other […]
KINDERGARTEN MATH UNIT 2 - GEOMETRY I am thrilled to be sharing my kindergarten Geometry Unit with you! The kids love all of the hands-on activities we get to do, and I love how easy it is to keep them engaged. I am sharing so many freebies with you right here on this blog
Learning about patterns through inquiry based learning in reading, math, science, and social studies
I hope I’m not the only one who struggled with all the lingo when starting out as a teacher at an IB PYP school (International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme). Units of inquiry? Learne…
Learning about patterns through inquiry based learning in reading, math, science, and social studies
Learning about patterns through inquiry based learning in reading, math, science, and social studies
As promised I am back to share my newest 3D shape product. WOW! I feel like I have been working on this packet FOREVER! One reason this took so long to create was because I took my first leap into creating clip art because I was not able to find any cute 3D shape clip art. This resource has TONS of cute stuff and I am so excited to share it with you! This 36 page 3D Shape Fun packet includes 6 posters to teach 3D shapes and one 3D shape attribute poster to help students with the vocabulary terms. A 3D Shape/Color BINGO game with calling cards and 7 different BINGO boards. A student book to learn about the 6 3D shapes, concentration game, 3D Shape Sort with Data Analysis and an "I Have, Who Has 3D Shape Game" WHEW! Stop by my shop to check out this fun packet!
We had a lot of fun this week with our 2D shapes! We really focused on 2D shapes that we see in the real world this week. We could not believe how many shapes we see all around us! We did activities from my 2D Shapes Galore pack. Here are some activities that we did […]
Grab these FREE Kindergarten Geometry pages for 2D and 3D shapes to use with your early learners. Just print-and-go!
A few years ago, the staff at my school began learning about inquiry research. We used the book, Comprehension & Collaboration: Inqu...
As teachers, I think it's a good idea to try to find learning opportunities outside of the four walls of our classrooms. Most of us do field trips here and there but I'm talking about teaching regular
Lesson plans, activities and ideas for kindergarten classrooms, including math problem-solving, reading workshop, writer's workshop, inquiry-based science journals, literacy centers and more!
Examples of biomimicry are increasingly influencing product design. Farms inspired by fish, swimwear by sharkskin, food by flowers... biomimicry shapes the look, function and structure of products we use every day. This beautiful poster sets stunning natural images alongside products to help students make the connection with nature in their own and others' work. With classic biomimicry examples, including the Eden Project, Bullet Train and Velcro, this is a must-have for any design and technology classroom. Quality guaranteed. Our poster of biomimicry examples is printed in Yorkshire on durable 260gsm paper with a great finish. We're so sure you'll love it that we offer a no-quibble returns policy.
Preschool through 3rd Grade NO PREP Packets! February is such a FUN month! Kids LOVE Valentine's Day and using that holiday to teach core skills and
Are you looking for super fun measurement worksheets and activities for kindergarten?? You found them!! Your students will LOVE these hands-on learning activities and fun, extra practice worksheets that teach a variety of kindergarten measurement concepts.
Lesson plans, activities and ideas for kindergarten classrooms, including math problem-solving, reading workshop, writer's workshop, inquiry-based science journals, literacy centers and more!
