Lesson 6

Rectangles and Squares

Lesson Purpose

The purpose of this lesson is for students to identify defining and non-defining attributes of squares and rectangles. Students draw rectangles and squares as well as non-examples of rectangles and squares.

Lesson Narrative

Earlier in this section, students sorted shapes and described their attributes. In the previous lesson, students learned the defining attributes of triangles (all triangles are closed, have three straight sides, and three corners).

In this lesson, students continue that work, this time with squares and rectangles. Students learn that a square is a special rectangle because it has the defining attributes of a rectangle (four sides and four square corners), but also has four sides with equal lengths. Students should be able to identify squares as rectangles, but they do not need to articulate a formal definition of a rectangle or a square.

  • Action and Expression
  • MLR7

Learning Goals

Teacher Facing

  • Draw squares and rectangles based on defining attributes.
  • Identify defining and non-defining attributes of rectangles and squares.
  • Recognize a square as a special rectangle.

Student Facing

  • Let’s explore what makes a shape a rectangle or a square.

Required Materials

Materials to Gather

Materials to Copy

  • Centimeter Dot Paper - Standard

Required Preparation

Activity 1:

  • Each group of 2 needs a set of Flat Shape Cards from a previous lesson.

Activity 2:

  • Each group of 2 needs a set of Flat Shape Cards from the previous activity.

CCSS Standards

Addressing

Lesson Timeline

Warm-up 10 min
Activity 1 20 min
Activity 2 15 min
Lesson Synthesis 10 min
Cool-down 5 min

Teacher Reflection Questions

What evidence have students given that they can distinguish between defining and non-defining attributes?

Print Formatted Materials

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Additional Resources

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