All About 3D Shapes

Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling

• Explain to the students that there are two families of shapes. Two-dimensional or flat shapes like the circle, square, triangle, or rectangle and 3D or solid shapes. Show students how to tell the different between 2D and 3D shapes by deciding if they are flat or solid (model this by having a ball and a flat circle side by side).
• Using the everyday items you collected for this session, introduce each 3D shape (cylinder, globe, pyramid, rectangular prism, cone) to the students using the following process.
• Hold up the can of soup, say the shape name, "cylinder" and have the students repeat after you. Pass the object around for students to hold, and describe the shape by its attributes. Refer to the Vocabulary Cards for support when listing attributes.
• Repeat with the remaining 3D shapes.

Guided Practice

• Display the sphere Vocabulary Card. Say, "This is a sphere. What do you think makes it special?"
• Instruct students to turn and talk to an elbow partner to share what makes the sphere special using the sentence starter, "A sphere is special because ____."
• Create an anchor chart labeled, "3D Shapes" and make a column for "sphere", then ask pairs to share their ideas with the group. Record student thinking on the chart paper. Ask clarifying questions to get students thinking about everyday objects in the shape of a sphere. Capture student thinking on the anchor chart.
• As needed, use the sphere Vocabulary Card to identify any additional attributes of the sphere.
• Repeat this process with the remaining shapes.

Group work time

• Explain that students will now get to practice sorting shapes into two groups, either 2D or 3D shapes.
• Display the 2D or 3D shapes worksheet and go over the instructions.
• Review any independent work procedures.
• Pass out student materials and worksheets.