Making Shapes

As part of our Shapes unit, we used pattern blocks to see what shapes we could make out of other shapes. We made squares, hexagons, and triangles...
rectangles and trapezoids...

giant rectangles and rhombuses...

But no matter how hard we tried (and we really tried!), we could not make a circle. See if your kids can explain why...

Shape Robots

We had a lot of fun using all the 2-dimensional shapes we learned about to create robots!

Shapes, Shapes, Shapes...

We are learning about 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional geometric figures (that’s shapes to me and you!) Children should be able to name the shapes, and describe them by their attributes. They should be able to find examples in the real world and compare and contrast 2 or more shapes. For example, they should be able to tell me that a square and a triangle are the same because they both have straight sides, but they are different because a square has 4 sides and a triangle only has 3. Below, I have listed the different shapes we are learning about and some things they should know about each. I don’t expect them to memorize every detail about every shape, but I do expect them to be able to talk about them and use some math language.

2-Dimensional Shapes are FLAT like a PANCAKE!

Rectangle

• 4 sides
• 4 corners
• Straight sides
  

Square

• 4 sides
• 4 corners
• Straight sides
• A "special" kind of rectangle--all 4 sides are equal length!

Triangle

• 3 sides
• 3 corners
• Straight sides

Rhombus

• 4 sides
• 4 corners
• Straight sides
• Looks like a square with the corners pulled tight.
• You may know it as a "diamond"

Trapezoid

• 4 sides
• 4 corners
• Straight sides
• Looks like a triangle with the top cut off
• Has diagonal lines

Hexagon

• 6 sides
• 6 corners
• Straight sides

Circle

• Zero sides
• Zero corners
• A curved line that is closed

Oval

• Zero sides
• Zero corners
• A curved line that is closed
• Looks like an egg

3-Dimensional Shapes have heighth, width and depth (in kindergarten talk--they "come out at you, like a 3-D movie). They are NOT flat like a pancake!

Cube

• 6 square faces
• Will slide, but not roll

Sphere

• Round like a ball
• No faces or corners
• Will roll

Cone

• Circle base
• point at the top
• Will roll around in a circle

Pyramid

• Square or triangle base
• Triangle faces
• point at the top
• Will slide, but not roll

Cylinder

• 2 circle bases
• Can roll and slide
  

Rectangular Prism

• 6 rectangular (can be square) faces
• Can slide, but not roll
• Prisms can be rectangular, square, triangular, even hexagonal!
  

We are learning the following TEKS when we learn about shapes:

K.8 Geometry and spatial reasoning. The student uses attributes to determine how objects are alike and different.
K.8A Describe and identify an object by its attributes using informal language.
K.8B Compare two objects based on their attributes.
K.8C Sort a variety of objects including two- and three-dimensional geometric figures according to their attributes and describe how the objects are sorted.

K.9 Geometry and spatial reasoning.
The student recognizes attributes of two- and three-dimensional geometric figures.
K.9A Describe and compare the attributes of real-life objects such as balls, boxes, cans and cones or models of three-dimensional geometric figures.
K.9B: Recognize shapes in real-life three-dimensional geometric figures or models of three-dimensional geometric figures.
K.9C Describe, identify, and compare circles, triangles, rectangles and squares (a special type of rectangle).

Our Candy Graph

On the Friday before Halloween, we took a survey to determine which Halloween candy we liked the best: Skittles, m&m's or Starbursts. As our pictograph shows, Starbursts was the clear winner, while m&m's and Skittles tied for 2nd place!

Shapes in the Real World

Look at these things. What shapes do you see?

Talk about it with your family!

Sorting

We have been busy sorting in math! We have sorted everything from special attribute blocks to buttons to all of our math manipulatives (that Ms. Warner "accidentally" mixed all up!)
We are learning that you can sort the same group of objects in several different ways--

By color: By shape...
Or by size...
But those are just the basics! We have found many other, creative ways to sort our objects!

These attribute blocks are sorted into thick and thin groups...
These manipulatives are sorted into groups based on what they are...
These buttons are sorted by shape...mostly circles, but there are some squares, a heart, even an owl!
These buttons are sorted according to how many holes they have...
These buttons are sorted by color...but there's also a group for buttons that have words on them!
We love to sort!