Lesson 5

Circles and Triangles

Lesson Purpose

The purpose of this lesson is for students to identify, describe, and compare circles and triangles.

Lesson Narrative

Students are also introduced to the geometric terms circle and triangle. Students develop their intuitive understanding of circles and triangles. They may incorrectly identify shapes in this activity, such as identifying an oval as a circle. If this happens, acknowledge the similarities between the shapes (“This shape is curved like a circle, but it is not a circle.”) As students sort examples and non-examples of triangles in the second activity, they continue to build their informal understanding of what a triangle is.
  • Representation
  • MLR8

Activity 2: Triangle Sort

Learning Goals

Teacher Facing

  • Identify, describe, and compare circles and triangles.

Student Facing

  • Let’s learn the names of some shapes.

Required Materials

Required Preparation

Activity 1:

Each student needs at least 2 different colored crayons or colored pencils.

Activity 2:

  • Cut out triangle cards from the blackline master. Each group of 4 needs 1 set of cards.

Activity 3:

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

CCSS Standards

Lesson Timeline

Warm-up 10 min
Activity 1 10 min
Activity 2 15 min
Activity 3 20 min
Lesson Synthesis 5 min
Cool-down 0 min

Teacher Reflection Questions

How did students think of triangles as they came into the lesson? In what ways did their understanding of triangles change upon completing the lesson?

Print Formatted Materials

For access, consult one of our IM Certified Partners.

Additional Resources

Google Slides

For access, consult one of our IM Certified Partners.

PowerPoint Slides

For access, consult one of our IM Certified Partners.