Lesson 10

Identify and Describe Solid Shapes

Warm-up: Number Talk: Add within 5 (10 minutes)

Narrative

The purpose of this Number Talk is to elicit strategies and understandings students have for adding within 5. In this activity, students have an opportunity to look for and make use of structure (MP7) because all of the expressions are 5 and the first addend is increased by 1 in each expression. Students may represent each addend on their fingers.

Launch

  • Display one expression.
  • “Give me a signal when you have an answer and can explain how you got it.”
  • 1 minute: quiet think time

Activity

  • Record answers and strategy.
  • Keep expressions and work displayed.
  • Repeat with each expression.

Student Facing

Find the value of each expression.

  • 2 + 3
  • 3 + 2
  • 4 + 1
  • 5 + 0

Student Response

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Activity Synthesis

  • “What is the same about all of the expressions?” (They are all 5.)

Activity 1: Make Solid Shapes (20 minutes)

Narrative

The purpose of this activity is to introduce students to the names of solid shapes as they build shapes with clay. Students create both flat and solid shapes based on objects or images. In the activity synthesis, students use their own language to describe the shapes they created.

Required Materials

Materials to Gather

Materials to Copy

  • Examples of Flat Shapes Display Cards

Required Preparation

  • Each group of 2 students needs solid shapes and a set of Flat Shapes Cards from a previous lesson.
  • Gather a ball, a can, a number cube, and an ice cream cone and cut out 1 set of Examples of Flat Shapes cards to display.

Launch

  • Groups of 2
  • Give each group of students the cube, cylinder, cone, and sphere solid shapes and a set of flat shapes cards. Give each student a piece of clay.
  • Display a ball for all to see.
  • “Pick up the shape that looks like the same shape as this ball.” (Students pick up a sphere.)
  • 30 seconds: independent work time
  • “Use clay to make a shape that looks like this ball.”
  • 2 minutes: independent work time
  • “Is this shape flat or solid? Why do you think that?” (It is solid. It sticks up. You can hold it. It looks a little bit like a circle, but it’s not flat.)

Activity

  • “Share your shape with your partner. How are they the same? How are they different?” (They are both round and solid. Mine is bigger.)
  • “This shape is called a sphere. What are some things you know that are shaped like a sphere?” (balls, marbles, ornaments, oranges, light bulbs, egg yolks)
  • Repeat the steps with the examples of flat shapes and a can to introduce cylinder, a number cube to introduce cube, and an ice cream cone to introduce cone.
  • As you display each object or card, ask:
    • “Pick up the shape that looks like this _____.”
    • “Use clay to make a shape that looks like this ______.”
    • “Is this shape flat or solid?”
    • “What are some other things you know that are shaped like a _____?”

Student Response

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Activity Synthesis

  • Display a student-created cone.
  • “Tell your partner all about this shape.” (It looks like an ice cream cone. It is a cone. It has a circle on the top and a point at the bottom. The sides are round, not flat. It is a solid shape.)
  • “In the next activity, you are going to practice describing solid shapes to your partner.”

Activity 2: Introduce Geoblocks, Describe and Find (10 minutes)

Narrative

The purpose of this activity is for students to learn stage 3 of the Geoblocks center. Students describe solid shapes using their own language. Students provide clues so that their partner can identify the shape out of a set of 4-6 solid shapes. While students may correctly name the solid shapes, it is not expected in this lesson. Students may describe the shapes in many ways. Monitor for students who:
  • reference a familiar object: “This shape looks like a ball.”
  • describe attributes or parts of the shape, such as point and circle for a cone.
  • use the name of the shape: “This shape is a cube.”
  • use positional words: “This shape is next to the one that looks like a box.”

The purpose of the activity synthesis is to highlight the language students use to describe shapes (MP6). 

MLR8 Discussion Supports. Synthesis: For each response that is shared, invite students to turn to a partner and restate what they heard, using descriptions and gestures.
Advances: Listening, Speaking
Action and Expression: Internalize Executive Functions. Invite students to plan how they will describe the shape to their partner.
Supports accessibility for: Organization, Conceptual Processing

Required Materials

Materials to Gather

Required Preparation

  • Each group of 2 students needs 4–6 different solid shapes.

Launch

  • Groups of 2
  • Give each group of students 4–6 different solid shapes.
  • “We are going to learn a new way to do the Geoblocks center. It is called Geoblocks, Describe and Find.”
  • “Put the solid shapes in the middle, between you and your partner.”
  • 30 seconds: partner work time

Activity

  • “Think of a shape but don’t tell your partner. Describe one of the shapes to your partner. Your partner’s job is to guess which shape you are describing. Once your partner figures out which shape you are describing, switch roles.”
  • 7 minutes: partner work time
  • Monitor for students who describe the shapes in the ways described in the activity narrative.

Advancing Student Thinking

If students guess a shape that is not being described, consider asking:
  • “What clues did your partner give you?”
  • If needed, consider prompting students to eliminate some of the shapes. For example, ask “Your partner said that the shape has a round part. Are there any shapes that do not have round parts?”

Activity Synthesis

  • Invite previously identified students to share.
  • “Which clues did your partner give that were helpful to you?” (My partner said their shape was tall and had a circle on the top and bottom.)

Activity 3: Centers: Choice Time (15 minutes)

Narrative

The purpose of this activity is for students to choose from activities that offer practice with number and shape concepts.

Students choose from any stage of previously introduced centers.

  • Geoblocks
  • Counting Collections
  • Match Mine
  • Shake and Spill

Required Materials

Materials to Gather

Required Preparation

  • Gather materials from: 
    • Geoblocks, Stages 1-3
    • Counting Collections, Stage 1
    • Match Mine, Stage 1
    • Shake and Spill, Stages 1-4

Launch

  • “Today we are going to choose from centers we have already learned.”
  • Display the center choices in the student book.
  • “Think about what you would like to do.”
  • 30 seconds: quiet think time

Activity

  • Invite students to work at the center of their choice. 
  • 12 minutes: center work time

Student Facing

Choose a center.

Geoblocks

Counting Collections

Center. Counting Collections.

Match Mine

Center. Match Mine.

Shake and Spill

Center. Shake and Spill.

Activity Synthesis

  • “Let’s practice using clues to find a solid shape in the lesson synthesis.”

Lesson Synthesis

Lesson Synthesis

Display 4 solid shapes, such as a cylinder, cube, cone, and pyramid.

Describe a shape to students. For example, “I am thinking of a shape that looks the same on all of the sides. It is a solid shape. It has squares on the sides. Which shape am I thinking of?” (Students point to the cube or say “cube.”)

Cool-down: Unit 7, Section B Checkpoint (0 minutes)

Cool-Down

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