shapes. SHAPES! shapes. SHAPES!

If you have any Greg & Steve CDs then you probably know exactly where that came from.  And I apologize up front that you'll have it in your head for the remainder of the evening.  If your kids don't know that song, you can get it here.  But don't blame me when you're singing it going to bed!!  ;)

We just started our shapes unit in math and have done some fun things to get the unit started.  Some are from our Investigations curriculum, some have been modified from the Investigations curriculum and some are just other activities.  All in all, we've had a good first two weeks exploring and comparing shapes.

{SHAPES!}

Our first project was to create a shape poster.  The kids all cut out multiple pictures the first day and we started the poster whole group.  For the remainder of the week the poster was in a center and a few kids at a time were challenged to cut out shapes we didn't have well represented.

Then we created shape pictures where the students changed a standard shape into something creative for a real-life experience.  These were from the initial lesson {first rotation to that center} but they're so cute I'm going to re-introduce this activity again next week and have them choose a different shape.

"I changed my rectangle into a flower pot."

"I changed my triangle into a jet ski."

"I changed my circle into a pumpkin."

"I changed my oval into a hot air balloon."

Then I put our shape poster, shape pictures and some question stems out in the hallway for a

"Think while you walk" display:

Playdough, ever a favorite, has been another popular station.  If you can roll a snake, you can make a shape!

Because many of my students are still struggling with number ID, I adapted this counting activity from an idea my friend Miss Hisrich used to do.  I wrote numbers in the bottom of ice cube trays for students to read.  Then they put beads into each tray space to represent that number.  {I assess randomly when their time is up by choosing one space to double check.}  They're also working on their one-to-one counting by adding one bead at a time.

The students use tweezers to pick up the beads to stimulate their fine motor skills!