Math is 'Shaping' Up!

Our new unit in first grade math focuses on shapes.  We are starting out by revisiting plane shapes.  The students had to identify and define a circle, square, rectangle, triangle and a rhombus.  It was very tricky to define the four sided figures accurately and took some skilled observations to notice the differences. For homework, they had to find three things at home for each shape.

Once the shapes were properly identified, the students worked on different attributes for sorting them: color, shape, size and thickness. We split into two groups and using sets of shape attribute blocks played Attribute Uno.  They had a blast!!  The first round required being able to add a shape that matched with one attribute.  Round two required two attributes to match and round three required three attributes to match and that wasn't easy!  Then the rounds were repeated until someone called out, "UNO!" and ran out of shapes.  There was so much excitement and they were so good about helping one another find ways to get a shape to match.  When the games finally ended, many students said this was the best math class they ever had and many asked to play it again the next day - which they did!!

It was important to try to stack the shapes in reverse order!!

The students also spent time exploring shapes with Magna Tiles and Pattern Blocks, creating amazing designs and structures.  We will soon begin discovering 3D or solid shapes.