Lesson 4

The purpose of this What Do You Know About _____ is for students to share what they know about and how they can represent quadrilaterals. In previous courses students have drawn and described squares, rectangles, and rhombuses and they will revisit and classify all of these shapes over the next several lessons.

• “What do you know about quadrilaterals?”
• 1 minute: quiet think time

• Record responses.

• “Draw some examples of quadrilaterals that you know.”
• Invite a few students to share their quadrilaterals with the rest of the class.
• “What is this shape called?” (a rectangle)
• “How else can we draw a rectangle?” (The sides can be longer or shorter.)

The purpose of this activity is for students to use language to describe and distinguish quadrilaterals (MP6). The activity has the same structure as the activity where students tried to identify which rectangle on the coordinate grid their partner was thinking of. Students rely on what they remember about categories of quadrilaterals, such as rectangles and rhombuses. They can also use informal language such as tilted, arrow, or red pattern block. The goal of the synthesis is to share and gather language which was helpful for distinguishing the quadrilaterals. 

This activity uses MLR2 Collect and Display. Advances: Conversing, Reading, Writing. 

• Consider giving each student a sheet protector and a dry-erase marker so that students can easily reuse the blackline master for multiple rounds of the game.

• Groups of 2
• Distribute the blackline master with the sheet protectors and dry-erase marker to each group or instruct students to use the image of quadrilaterals in their workbook.

• 8 minutes: partner work time

MLR2 Collect and Display

• Circulate, listen for and collect the language students use to describe the quadrilaterals as they sort. Listen for:
  • language and gestures used to describe angles, such as: wide, open, skinny, square, big, small, obtuse, acute, right
  • language and gestures used to describe sides, such as: straight, cross, intersect, parallel, perpendicular
  • language used to describe shapes, such as: square, tilted, flat, trapezoid, rhombus, diamond, arrow, parallelogram
• Record students’ words and phrases on a visual display and update it throughout the lesson.

If students do not ask specific questions during this task, collect a set of questions during a practice round and ask, “Which questions could you ask to find out which shape your partner chose?”

• “Are there any other words or phrases that are important to include on our display?”
• As students share responses, update the display, by adding (or replacing) language, diagrams, or annotations.
• Remind students to borrow language from the display as needed.
• Invite previously selected students to share.
• Display rhombus card that is not a square.
• “What are some names we can use to describe this shape?” (quadrilateral, diamond, parallelogram, rhombus)

The purpose of this activity is for students to sort quadrilaterals that they have worked with in previous grades. Students sort twice using categories of their own choosing and then again using parallel lines. Some categories students may choose include squares, rectangles, and rhombuses but they may also sort according to whether or not the shapes are labeled, how they are oriented, angle size, or side lengths (MP7).

As students work, encourage them to refine their descriptions of quadrilaterals using more precise language and mathematical terms (MP6).

• Create a set of cards from the blackline master for each group of 2. 

• Groups of 2
• Distribute a set of cards to each pair of students.

• “In this activity, you will sort some cards into categories of your choosing. When you sort the quadrilaterals, you should work with your partner to come up with categories.”
• 8 minutes: partner work time
• Select groups to share their categories and how they sorted their cards.
• Choose as many different types of categories as time allows.
• “Now work with your partner to sort your cards using parallel lines.”
• 5 minutes: partner work time

If a student does not know whether or not a shape has parallel lines, choose a shape that does have parallel lines and draw dashes to show what the lines would like if they were extended. Choose a shape that does not have parallel lines and prompt the students to draw dashes to extend the lines. Ask, “What is the same and different about the lines in these two shapes?”

• Invite previously selected students to share.
• As students share their sorts, ask, “What attributes do all of these shapes have in common?”
• “How did you use parallel lines to sort the quadrilaterals?” (Some of the quadrilaterals did not have any parallel sides. Some had one pair of parallel sides. And some had two pairs of parallel sides.)
• Invite students to share examples of the quadrilaterals with no parallel sides, one pair of parallel sides, and two pairs of parallel sides.