Geometry - Personal Learning Path Week 4

Although I am wrapping up with my refreshing on fractions, I would like to explore geometry and ways to teach geometry in a simple and fun way for students. The great thing about geometry is that students can use their knowledge of fractions and utilize it for geometry. A lot of the time students can break down parts of a shape in fraction form, so I think this is a great "next step" for myself and well as my students.

The NYS Common Core Standards that apply to this content area are:
Reason with shapes and their attributes.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.G.A.1
Understand that shapes in different categories (e.g., rhombuses, rectangles, and others) may share attributes (e.g., having four sides), and that the shared attributes can define a larger category (e.g., quadrilaterals). Recognize rhombuses, rectangles, and squares as examples of quadrilaterals, and draw examples of quadrilaterals that do not belong to any of these subcategories.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.G.A.2
Partition shapes into parts with equal areas. Express the area of each part as a unit fraction of the whole. For example, partition a shape into 4 parts with equal area, and describe the area of each part as 1/4 of the area of the shape.
In the upcoming weeks I am going to challenge myself to gain new knowledge and combine it with my prior knowledge on geometry and figure out fun ways to teach this content to my students. Geometry is our next unit so this works out perfectly!
I would like to bring in physical shapes that represent all of the different categories (rhombus, rectangle, square, etc.) Then, I could ask students to find shapes that are similar within the classroom and/or think of similar shapes that they see in their everyday lives. This will help students get used to recognizing different types of shapes and labeling them. 
I found a great resource from Khan Academy to introduce my students to geometric shapes. This video explains how shapes contain different sides and how shapes can change a shape from having equal sides or distance/lines. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10dTx1Zy_4w]

Comments

  1. Taylor BrennanFebruary 19, 2022 at 9:45 AM

    Thank you for sharing your reflections and ideas! I, too, have been focusing on fractions for my last few posts, and did not realize the connections between that topic and geometry! Thank you so much tying these two concepts together, and I think it will make for a great transition for your students to add more knowledge in geometry while building off of their developing skills with fractions. Great job!

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  2. John ShanleyMarch 1, 2022 at 12:58 PM

    I have also found many similarities between the two topics! In our curriculum we went geometry to fractions and that has been beneficial for students who need to visualize exactly what we are talking about. In regard to your idea of bringing physical shapes into the classroom, that is exactly what we did! We had students brainstorm different shapes they already knew, such as stars or rectangles, then when we had a full list, they explored the classroom looking for real life examples of these shapes. This helped them realize the real world value of understanding geometry.

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