How do you build spatial reasoning, critical thinking, and problem solving skills while doing something that is fun? With tangrams! In honor of Chinese New Year, this lesson introduces your students to the Chinese puzzle of tangrams.

Students will use their hands to mold clay into shapes, then divide those shapes into equal and unequal quarters.

Students will love composing and decomposing two-dimensional shapes using tangram puzzle pieces. Use this plan alone or to frontload key vocabulary and concepts taught in the lesson plan Know Your Shapes.

Sorting takes on a new challenge for students in this activity which engages their critical thinking skills. As students determine defining attributes, they’ll figure out what makes a shape a shape!

Your students will solve and create shape riddles while practicing their knowledge of shape attributes.

Students will explore geometric shapes by creating a painting of a trapezoid.

Geometry meets data in this fun lesson! Students will build a design using pattern blocks and then graph the number of each shape used. This scaffolded EL lesson can be used alone or alongside Graphing Colored Counters.