Search results matching tag 'geometry'

Polygon Word Wall, Books, and Resources

Anonymous — Sun, 26 May 2013 15:13:00 GMT

This is an illustrated word wall of polygons with a definition sentence strip. Students can count the sides or corners of each shape to deduce the meanings of each polygon word. The polygon prefixes can also be studied and linked to the number sides, for example, the prefix 'tri-' means three, therefore the three-sided or three-angled polygon is called the triangle.

This book, The Greedy Triangle, introduces polygons and their properties starting from the simplest one, the triangle. In this story, the triangle was unhappy about only having three sides so he added a fourth to become a square, then a fifth to become a pentagon and so on... Let's just say that as he underwent each change, he learned about each shape's properties and learned to appreciate his own. See other polygon books here.

I created a set of activities for polygons that you can check out. It is available here at my TpT store.

Polygon Word Wall, Books, and Resources

Anonymous — Sun, 26 May 2013 15:13:00 GMT

I created a set of activities for polygons that you can check out. It is available here at my TpT store.

Angle Sum Theorem

Anonymous — Thu, 02 May 2013 14:14:00 GMT

I've taught Angle Sum Theorem in the past but I felt as though my students didn't truly understand what it means or how it actually works. They can tell you that all angles in a triangle add up to 180 degrees, but if you ask them how do you know it's true they couldn't give you a good reason. I usually get the response of "because you told us it does". UGH! Not the response I'm looking for.

This year I was determined to find a way that would help them understand just how it worked, and I came across these two different methods. I used BOTH.

The first method is where you give students three different triangles: Equilateral, Scalene, and Isosceles. They color each of the angles in the triangle a different color and rip off the angles. Then they have to join all three angles, and in the end they form a straight line which they know measures 180 degrees.

The second method we used is where each student again is given three different triangles: Equilateral, Scalene, and Isosceles. They again color each of the angles in the triangle a different color. They start off by folding the triangle to create an altitude. Then the top angle is folded down to the point where the altitude and base meet. The two other angles fold in, showing all three angles lined up creating a straight line.

They liked the folding method because when they glued them into their ISN they were able to fold and unfold the triangle as many times as they want. The ones that were ripped could only be done the one time.

Here are the left pages when they are finished.

Unfolded Triangles

Folded Triangles

On the right side of their notebook we worked out several different types of problems involving the angle sum theorem. We also revisited supplementary angles, vertical angles, as well as the different types of triangles and their characteristics.

Overall this page so far has probably been their favorite. I succeeded in getting them to understand why the angles in a triangle add up to 180 degrees, and I no longer get answers of "because that's what you said".

Angle Sum Theorem(1)

Angle Sum Theorem Practice Problems Sheet

Naming Triangles

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:44:00 GMT

We moved into Triangles in Geometry class and we began by naming them, using both the name based on their sides as well as the name based on their angle measures.

The students were given a sheet that contained all 9 triangles. They had to cut them out and then sort them into groups based on their similarities. At this time they were not given any of the names. Students had to explain why they grouped certain triangles together. They were also told that one triangle could not fit into more than one group. This proved to be a challenge for some of them, but after awhile they were able to figure it out.

Everyone came up with that we could group them based on their sides, or by the types of angles. We decided as a whole class to glue them into our ISN by groups based on their sides.

We went through the six different names for triangles and what the characteristics were for each of them. After that they were asked to go back and name each yellow triangle using two names.

When they were done they were given this half sheet of practice and asked to go through it. I had them start off on their own, only working through the first three at the top. After that we went over them and I had them work in pairs for the bottom section.

Many of my students used different colored highlighters to make each of the triangles in questions #1-5 stand out so they knew which ones to focus on.

Under this page is where my students wrote down the six different triangles: acute, right, obtuse, equilateral, isosceles, and scalene. They also were asked to summarize the characteristics of each one.

Triangles

Triangles Practice Page

Monthly Goals Linky and Geo Creations

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 01:03:00 GMT

Setting goals for myself is something I don't do often enough. My goals mostly feel like a never-ending to-do list. So I jumped at the chance to join Jess at I {Heart} Recess's May Goals Linky!

Here's mine.....

Personal: This is a big month for my baby boy (who is 17). He has AP Exams, Senior Prom, and the coup de gras, graduation.

(Please pass the tissues. Sniff. Sniff.) Family is coming to celebrate with us and I've got to get everything ready for his graduation party. Where does time go? I can't resist showing you my "baby". He will be attending Texas A & M in the fall.

Health: This was a no-brainer. I need sleep. During the school year, I get by on very little sleep. But by May, it starts to catch up with me. It's time to replenish my energy reserve!

Blogging: Blogging has been such an unexpected joy in my life. I really don't have any major goals other than to have the time to post more often. I never want blogging to feel like work. I love that blogging can be whatever I want it to be. It's so liberating!

School: I LOVE this time of the year. I feel like all my stress was packed up in the boxes along with the STAAR Test. I'm back to loving my job and enjoying my students. This is also the time of year I like to make notes about what worked and what didn't during the year. Since this was my first year in third grade, I had a big learning curve. Reflection is the spring board to improvement and I always consider myself to be a work in progress.

Fun: I have a looonnng list of fun things I want to do this summer.

But at the top of my list is to go home to see my parents. I miss them so much. They live in Ohio and it's nice to get away from the Texas heat!

That was fun!

Now for the Geo-creations pictures I promised and blogged about here. They turned out great! So creative!

Puppy Pup

Rocket Man

Princess Bed

Jet Plane

Soccer Goals

Thanks for stopping by!

Geo-Man Lives!

Anonymous — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 23:02:00 GMT

My third grade team shared an awesome geometry project with me this week. My kids have enjoyed it so much that I want to share it with you. It's called Geo-man (or woman)!

First, you'll need to copy a set of the following geometry 'nets' on card stock for each student. You can find FREE net templates for 3D foldable shapes at Vintage Teacher's TPT Store. I recommend copying each net shape on a different color card stock. It will help the students identify the 3D shapes more easily. Here is the list to make the figure shown above:

1 cube
1 cone
1 square pyramid
1 cylinder
2 short rectangular prisms
2 long rectangular prisms

Next, students cut out each net. Remind them to be very neat and to cut along the "perimeter" of the net. Do not cut off the tabs because they will help to keep the 3D shape together. I gave each of my students a gallon ziplock baggie to store all their parts as this took us more than one class period.

Once everything is cut out, we began to fold. The side without lines should be facing their desk. Each shape must be folded with a sharp crease on every solid or dotted line. This is a great opportunity to point out the 2D shapes of all the faces and to show congruency by folding up like faces. For example, fold all sides of the cube so only one square is showing.

Once you start putting the faces into place to make the 3D shape, some students may experience a little frustration. I try to guide them through it without doing it for them. If poor cutting is preventing the shape from coming together, you might need to do a little "surgery" to help it fit correctly.

Now it is time to GLUE! There are lots of ways of doing this, but you will know the best way for your class. My students seem to over-do-it with glue. So, I divided them into partners and they shared a paper plate with a little puddle of glue. The glue was applied with Q-Tips. This worked very well. One of my team members has the students use glue bottles; another uses glue sticks. You could also use tape or glue dots.

The final step is to put the figure together. This is best achieved with a glue gun used by the teacher. Once the figure is put together, the students can decorate the Geo-man (or woman) as they wish. Decorating items might include googly eyes, yarn, sequins, raffia, scraps of fabric, etc.

A variation of the project is to have the students create their own figure using the nets they have been given. If you have any other ideas, I would love to hear them!

Most of my class's figures will be done this week. I will take some pictures and post them.

Have a great week!!!

Characteristics of Trapezoids

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:17:00 GMT

When we covered characteristics of trapezoids I wanted to make our ISN page different than the rest that we have done. I looked around at other teacher's blogs to see what kind of cool ideas they were doing and I saw a post that had a page with a pocket on it. I LOVE the pocket idea!

To make the pocket I gave students a regular size index card that we taped on three sides. To make the cards the students cut out the green boxes and glued those onto the regular size index cards as well.

Each type of trapezoid got their own card, which we colored equal angles the same color and identified characteristics about their sides.

I had the students use protractors to measure each of the angles in the trapezoids to determine which ones were equal to each other and then color them. After that we wrote the characteristics of the angles down under the characteristics section. We then began talking about the sides, some students needed to use rulers to measure the lengths because visually they weren't sure which ones were equal.

We then started discussing what equations that we could come up with for each of the trapezoids. What we came up with we wrote under the equations section.

They then were given a green sheet that had problems involving trapezoids on them. Students had to cut them out, then decide which problem belonged with which type of trapezoid.

Once they match up the problem with the type of trapezoid they glued them onto the back of the card. Using the characteristics and equations they discovered on the front, they had to solve the problems on the back.

When they were finished we went through them together and they were given their practice for the right page.

Here is their practice page on the right. ~>

Trapezoid Cards

Trapezoid Problems

Terrific Tangrams

Anonymous — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 17:56:00 GMT

Hello darlings! We just completed the Communication Arts section of the MAP Test this week! Yay! Now we just have the math section to go. One of my colleagues found this website that has great math activities on it. Thanks Meghan! There is this really AWESOME video lesson on geometry that gives step by step instructions and visuals on how to create tangrams. It talks about the different shapes such as square, triangle rhombus, and parallelogram. Each kiddo needs one sheet of paper and a pair of scissors. That's it! Kiddos then use the shapes to make different designs and objects.

This was a fantastic hands on lesson for my students. They were finally able to see that two triangles make a square and how to combine shapes to make objects. This website and lesson is also PERFECT to use with a substitute because all you have to do it click "play" and "next".

Enjoy! Click here to visit Links Learning.

This is a boot. =)

Do you have any fun ways to review geometry?

Quadrilaterals

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 13:50:00 GMT

So I thought over spring break I would catch up on all of my blogging, find cool new activities to do with my math students, and create some new ISN pages. Well needless to say that never happened...

We covered Quadrilaterals in Geometry class, however we only went with regular quadrilaterals for the time being.

My students love charts, and when I say love I really mean LOVE!! It's weird how excited they can get about a chart, but whatever will make them happy. So to cover the characteristics of the different types of regular quadrilaterals I had my students fill in the following chart.

We started off drawing a picture of each shape and from there the students told me what to write in both the "Angles" and "Sides" boxes. It turned into a whole class discussion where all I did was fill in my chart as they told me what to put in it.

My students will admit that they are not the best artists (frankly neither am I ), so made these shapes on the computer for them to cut out and tape into their notebooks. We went through in the beginning identifying each of the shapes by name, then color coding their different characteristics (color chart at the top). Afterwards we went through and wrote the information below and to the side of each of the shapes.

They found this part to be really easy after having done the chart. Which is what I was hoping for.

Quadrilaterals Characteristics Chart

Quadrilateral Shapes

Geometry Picture Books

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:15:00 GMT

If your students like to read humorous books, then use books that have both humor and the desired content that you need them to learn. I first have to introduce 'The Greedy Triangle' by Marilyn Burns because it teaches the reader not only about polygons but it has an important moral in it as well. Here are a few other worth taking a look at...

What are your favorite geometry books?