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Teaching Shapes with Paper Cutouts

by

Noel Lucero | Kensler Elementary | Wichita, Kansas

In this activity, the teacher introduces four basic shapes: rectangle, square, triangle, and circle. She uses paper cutouts to show and describe each shape. Then she asks students to find the shape somewhere in the room or in their environment.

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Hi, today I’m going to talk about one way I teach shapes to my students. Today, I’m going to talk about rectangle, a square, a triangle, and a circle. So, I would sit my students down on the carpet, and I would tell them boys and girls, everything is made up of shapes. You can find shapes everywhere you look. And so, then you could talk about the first shape, a rectangle. Boys and girls, this is a rectangle. What is it? And they’ll repeat rectangle. I know this is a rectangle because it has two sides that are long and two sides that are short. So, we know that this is a rectangle. I can find rectangles in many places. Can you find a rectangle? And then, you’d have them look around and see if they can find a shape that looks like a rectangle. And then, I pick up my next shape. I would say this is a square, boys and girls. What is it? It’s a square. Squares are very special, because all of their sides are the same length. So, this side is equal to this side, is equal to this side, and is equal to this side. This is a square. So, squares are special because any way you turn it, it still looks the same. So, this is a square can anybody find a square? And then, we would look for a square in our environment. And then, I pick up the next shape. I say boys and girls this is a triangle. What shape is it? It’s a triangle. Triangles have three sides. Can you count the sides? Let’s count one, two, three. This is a triangle. And then, have the kids look around to see if they can find any triangles in their environment. And, the last one this is a circle boys and girls. What is it? It’s a circle. A circle is special because it doesn’t have sides, it has curves. Take a look, it curves around. No straight lines on a circle. Can anybody find a circle? And so, then we would just look in our environment for those shapes. And, that’s one way I teach shapes. Thanks.

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