Shapes by Caroline Laidlaw

Short description

Shapes is a non-fiction text which introduces the topic of shapes by reading about six playful mice and their friend, the Owl. The following lessons are designed to link English and math. The storyline and illustrations encourage young learners to recognize shapes in every day situations.

Competence Aims in LK20 after Year 4

• discover and play with words and expressions that are common to both English and other languages with which the pupil is familiar
• explore different dictionaries and how they can be used in language learning
• read and understand texts with phonetic words and familiar and unfamiliar word images
• read and understand the meaning of familiar and unfamiliar words, phrases and sentences based on the context in self-chosen texts

K06 Areas: Language learning, Communication, Culture, society and literature

Teaching Objectives

Pupils shall be able to 

• practice identifying and making shapes and talking about shapes in English
• follow oral instructions
• follow written instructions
• use dictionaries
• exchange information

Resources

• mathematical games about shapes:
  http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/shape.htm#Shapes
• Appendix 1
• Bingo card
• Activity work sheets

Preparations

• select the activities to be done
• check the websites suggested
• prepare the materials for the activities

Plan of Lessons

Pre-reading

• Activity 1: Introduce the topic. Show the pupils shapes that they are familiar with from mathematics. Ask the pupils to name these, and then ask if anyone knows what they are called in English. Put the terms on the board.
• Activity 2: Introduce the characters. Gather the children around so they can see the picture on the first page. Ask them how many animals there are in the picture. Point to the bird and one mouse, asking “Do you know what this is called in English?” Note the irregular plural: one mouse – six mice.
• Activity 3: Introduce the story. Tell the class that the Owl is a teacher and that he is going to take his class of mice on a field trip looking for different shapes.

Reading

The entire book need not be read at once. As new shapes are introduced in maths, a new chapter could be read.

This book should be read aloud to the class, or to groups.

• Pages 1-2 Read aloud. Pause at the end to ask if they can see the “circle of mice”. Note the differences in pronunciation and spelling of this word in English and Norwegian.
• Page 3. Read and then ask them if they know what a “detective” is and what s/he does. Then ask: “What are the mice going to look for on Rubbish Mountain?”
• Page 6. Look at the picture and ask the pupils how many circles they can see. Do they know the names of any of these circle-shaped things? Read the page, and then find some wheels and rings.
• Page 7. Begin by pointing out that spots are a pattern made up of circles. Ask if they can think of any animals that have spots. Read page 7 and have the pupils identify the mushroom, butterfly and Spotty mouse. Ask if they see any other things with spots (caterpillar and lady bird).
• Pages 8-9. Read and then talk about the circles inside circles. Ask is they can think of any other things that have this pattern (e.g. our eyes, targets used in sports).
• Pages 10-12. Show the pupils a circle and a ball, and talk about the difference between 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional shapes. Read pages 10-12, pausing to look at the pictures and discuss the items mentioned.
• Pages 14-15. Look at Sylvia’s description on page 14 “Everything has got four straight sides and every side is the same length.” Ask the pupils if they know what shape is being described. Read the chapter and then name some of the square items.
• Pages 16-17. Read and then talk about the difference between a rectangle and a square. Ask them to name some rectangular items.
• Pages 18-19. Show the pupils a cube and discuss how many sides it has. Read the chapter. Have the pupils find some examples of cubes (e.g. dice)
• Pages 20-21. Read and then discuss the difference between cube and cuboid. Ask them what examples they can see in the pictures.
• Pages 22-23. Bring out a triangle that is used in music class and ask what it is. Compare the pronunciation of the Norwegian word for this instrument and the English word for its shape. Read and talk about different shapes of triangles.
• Pages 24-25. Read and talk about pyramids.
• Page 26-27. Read and look at the picture. Ask the pupils if they know of any cone-shaped items (e.g. look at the picture on page 27).
• Pages 28-29. Read the chapter. Have the pupils draw their favourite shapes and tell their group why they like it best. They can then make a list of these shapes.

Post-Reading

Any activities/materials used in teaching shapes in maths can be done in English instead of, or as well as, in Norwegian.

There are activity pages in the book (page 13, 27 and 31-32) that the pupils can do.

• Activity 1: Pronunciation practice. Note the similarities and differences between English and Norwegian terms for these shapes (e.g. circle, rectangle and triangle)
• Activity 2: Following instructions + identifying shapes. Give each pupil an A4 paper. Ask what shape it is. Have them fold it in half, and then ask what shape it is. Ask them to fold it into a square, and then into a triangle. Have them cut out a circle, and then make it into a cone.
• Activity 3: Writing + shape recognition. Make a bingo card (9 squares) and have the pupils write the names of all the different shapes in the squares. Hold up a picture of a shape, and they cross this off. Continue until someone has a line.
• Activity 4: Definitions. Using the story and dictionaries, have the pupils write their own definitions of the various shapes (See appendix 1). Alternatively, provide the definition and ask them to fill in the shape. They could also match the 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional shapes. (circle – sphere, etc.)
• Activity 5: Card game. Give each pupil four cards on heavy paper and have them draw one shape on each (circle, square, rectangle, triangle) and write the names as well. Form groups and have them turn their cards face downward and mix up them up. Each pupil then draws two-three cards, and they play a version of ‘fish’. For example: Sam asks: “John do you have a square?” If John does, he gives it to Sam; if he doesn’t, John tells Sam to “Go fish” (pick up an extra card). Then it is the next player’s turn.
• Activity 6: Following oral instructions. Give each pupil a shape card, and then play a version of ‘Simon says’ using these. For example, all those with squares, hop on their left foot. After playing for a while, the pupils can take turns giving the instructions.
• Activity 7: Following written instructions. Review of colours, sizes and shapes: http://www.kidzone.ws/prek_wrksht/shapes/shapes-mixed5.htm
• Activity 8: Following instructions. Have the pupils make hearts using circles and squares: http://www.dltk-holidays.com/valentines/m-shapes-heart.htm
• Activity 9: Identifying shapes + writing lists. Assign the pupils different shapes for a scavenger hunt. Have them go around the school/playground (individually or in pairs) looking for things that are this shape. They should write the names of these items on a list.
• Activity 10: Identifying shapes + photo story. Instead a scavenger hunt, the class could go on a geometry walk: http://www.proteacher.org/a/57320_geometry_walk.html. If pictures are taken, these could be used in a photo story; the pupils could work in groups, selecting one photo for each shape and writing a sentence for each picture about the item and its shape. For example. “The door to the classroom is a rectangle.” Alternatively, they could write sentences without doing a photo story.
• Activity 11: Following written instructions. Have the pupils construct different shapes by following the instructions provided. http://www.lessonsense.com/shapes/crafts.html  Another activity on this site involves identifying shapes.
• Activity 12: Writing a story. Have the pupils write a chapter for the book about their favourite shape. They could read these aloud in groups, for oral practice.

Debriefing and Evaluation 

Evaluation can take place on several levels.

• Assessment of written texts
• Vocabulary cards
• Photo stories
• Oral presentations

A sample self-evaluation form is provided in Appendix 1. This should be modified to include the competencies that were focused upon in this project.

Follow-up

When working with geometry in maths, the English words can be used to revise this material.

Comments

This is a book which links Maths and English. By the end of fourth grade, according to the Mathematics curriculum in LK06, pupils should be able to: “recognize and describe characteristics of circles, polygons, spheres, cylinders.”  In addition, they should be able to draw and build geometric figures. This text introduces some of these same forms – in English.

Developed by

Anna Birketveit, senior lecturer at Høgskolen i Bergen
Karin Dahlberg Pettersen, Fremmedspråksenteret