Kindergarten

Tips for Helping at Home

•

Look for different shapes in the environment, at

home or while you are out. You can look for both

two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes.

Encourage your child to look

closely and describe what

each shapes looks like.

•

Making shapes is a good way to learn about

them. At home, your child might use clay or play-

dough, building blocks, drinking straws or a loop

of yarn or rope to make different shapes. Drawing

shapes is also fun. Your child might like to design

pictures using shapes, as we will be doing in

class.

•

You and your child might visit the children’s sec-

tion of the local library and find books about

shapes to read together.

Burns, Marilyn.

The Greedy Triangle

. New York:

Scholastic, 1994.

Mathematical Emphasis

Investigation 1— Shapes Around Us

•

Observing and describing two-dimensional shapes

•

Relating 2-D shapes to real-world objects

Investigation 2—Exploring Shapes with the Computer

•

Visualizing how to move a shape so that it is ori-

ented correctly to fit into a design

•

Building knowledge about the relationships among

pattern block shapes

Investigation 3—Looking at 3-D Shapes

•

Developing vocabulary to describe 2-D and 3-D

shapes

•

Finding combinations of shapes that fill an area

Investigation 4—Making Shapes and Building Blocks

•

Building knowledge about the relationships among

pattern block shapes

•

Combining smaller 3-D shapes to make a larger 3-

D shape

Investigation 5—Faces on 3-D Blocks

•

Observing similarities and differences between the

faces of different 3-D shapes

Websites

http://cms.everett.k12.wa.us/math/Kinder

Buried Shapes

http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/online/longshape3d.html

Pattern Blocks

http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/frames_asid_169_g_1_t_3.

html?open=activities

software for this unit.

Exploring Geometry

---

A _________ is just a _________ until you

add ____________. Then it is a _________.

Economopoulos, Karen. Investigations in Number, Data,

and Space: Making Shapes and Building Blocks. Dale

Seymour Publications, 1998.

Vocabulary

Two-Dimensional Shapes:

Square, rectangle, triangle, circle, oval

Three-Dimensional Shapes:

cylinder

cone

sphere

rectangular prism

triangular prism

Glossary

http://www.amathsdictionaryforkids.com/

Game

Grab Bag

You will need:

Two or more players

Counters (5—10) in a

bag

How to play:

One player puts the counters in the bag,

reaches in and takes some out.

Player opens hand to show the counters

taken out, then says: “I had ____ counters

and took out _____. How many do you

think are still in the bag?”

Player holding the bag can then confirm if

the other player’s guess is correct.

Players then switch roles, trying different

combinations as well as using a different

number of cubes in the bag.