I Know My Shapes!

Question: Do you know what a rectangle is? A rectangle looks like a square but has two long sides and two short sides. An example of a rectangle is a door.

Toys: Play-Doh, Tinker Toys, and Wooden shapes puzzles.

We welcomed Nathan's younger brother, Jaxon, to class today.

Play-Doh Fun!

Snack: Grapes (oval), Cheez-its (squares), cucumber spears (triangles on the inside), apple slices (round, star inside), banana (crescent), avocado (tear drop or oval shape).


Circle Time began at snack time. We had fun looking into a bowl of fruit and finding all the shapes that were hidden there. We talked about other fruit like strawberries (cut sideways=hearts), starfruit (star shape--showed picture. Taste is tangy like citrus but sweeter), melons (cut=crescent shape), plums, oranges, apples, apricots, peaches (circle shapes).

We enjoyed reading and learning about shapes.

Preston helped me put up our Shapes posters.

Our Alphabet story today was Alphabet Soup: A Feast of Letters about Otter who moves into a new house. He decided to have a "put luck" party and invited his 26 best friends. (As you may have guessed, each animal friend starts with the letter of the alphabet and brings a food item for the soup or to share). This seemed appropriate for Nathan who will be moving to a new home soon.

Today was Nathan's last day in our preschool. His father is finishing up graduate work at BYU and the family will be moving back East in April. What a fun time we had together! We gave Nathan a bag with a letter, poem, some photos, and Forget-Me-Not seeds to plant in his new home.
Nathan brought everyone in class a going away goodie--chocolate covered marshmallow bunnies. Yum!

Visual Shape Recognition: We traced over the letters to shape words and outlined the shapes as we said each one.

Shape Games (and fun assessment): Cranium Hullabaloo. In this clever and fun game put to music, students must listen for directions to lead them to a "cranium pad" of a certain shape, color, or with an animal, food, or instrument on it. Kids are having so much fun moving and listening--they don't know they are learning as well.


Extension Activity: Why not go on a shapes hunt around your house or neighborhood? You could say..."I spy with my little eye" or be Shape Detectives. Homes have rectangular doors, magazines, books and bricks. Windows are often square. Trampolines, bowls, frames can be circular. Some roof tops and gables can be triangular. You get the idea--have fun learning and talking about shapes!


Shape Books:
Fun with Colors and Shapes (World Book)
My First Book of Shapes (Baby Einstein ) by Julie Aigner-Clark, Ill. by Nadeem Zaidi
Colors and Shapes (Let's Look, DK) Essential Preschool Learning
Baby See-a-Shape Shapes by Mark Tattam (Make Believe Ideas Limited)
Making Shapes: A Very First Math Book Ill. by Jo Moon *finger traceable shape tracks
The Silly Story of Goldie Locks and the Three Squares (Hello, Math lvl. 2) by Grace Maccarone, Ill. by Anne Kennedy. Math Activities by Marilyn Burns

Alphabet Book:
Alphabet Soup: A Feast of Letters by Scott Gustafson**Love the illustrations/story.

Parents for Free Shape Printables and Flash Cards click here: TLSBooks