Lesson 3

The purpose of this lesson is for students to describe and compare shapes.

Students look at pictures of objects in the environment as well as common flat shapes. They describe and compare shapes. This lesson is an opportunity to see what attributes of shapes students notice and attend to. Students notice and describe both defining (number of sides and corners, flat or straight sides) and non-defining (size, color, orientation) attributes of shapes. This allows teachers to see the vocabulary students use to describe shapes (MP6). In grade 1 students will distinguish between these defining and non-defining attributes of shapes. 

The shape cards in this lesson will be used again in future lessons.

Cut cards from the blackline master to create a set of cards for each group of 2.

• Gather materials from:
  • Picture Books, Stages 1-3
  • Bingo, Stages 1 and 2
  • Shake and Spill, Stages 1 and 2

Students shared their thinking multiple times in this lesson. What have you noticed about the language students use? What support can you offer to students who struggle to communicate their ideas orally?