This lesson is for : Grade 6:
Summary
Students work in small groups of 2-3 to collaborate classifying polygons as quadrilaterals, parallelograms, rectangles, trapezoids, rhombi, and squares based on their properties. Each group has a set of riddle cards, a geoboard and rubber bands. The students will work together to determine which Quadrilateral is being described based on the properties in the riddle. They will then use the rubber bands to make the shape on their geoboard. They must show the teacher before moving to the next riddle. When each group has successfully completed all shapes, students are directed to open a google presentation containing slides with various quadrilateral names (rectangle, square, rhombus etc.) Each group will receive a note card with a different quadrilateral and definition on it. The group must find the matching page on the google presentation and fill in the definition for their shape and create and label a picture. On each card key vocabulary (like congruent) will be missing and replaced with “elementary words” (like same size) and underlined. The students must recognize that there is a more “middle school” representation and switch to reflect that in the presentation. When completed, the class presentation is presented to the class and shared in school space as a reference for all students.
TIPC Ratings
Research & Information Fluency
Rating: Not Observed – Explanation: Not a focus for this lesson.
Communication & Collaboration
Rating: Approaching – Explanation: Students worked in teacher selected teams to classify geometric shapes. Once in teams, students set roles on their own for how to accomplish the task. Students synthesized their learning with the vocab cards and shape cards by creating a student generated definition onto a shared google presentation. The final product was a shared, collaborative student vocabulary list, created by student exploration, and student critical thinking and problem solving.
Critical Thinking & Problem Solving
Rating: Approaching – Explanation: The teacher models problem solving by offering assistance to students and posing questions “can you make a trapezoid” while students investigated geometric shapes using manipulatives. The teacher often asked “why is it a X” to help students dig deeper. In the final product (Google presentation) students had to justify their decision making by editing the correct google slide. This was all accomplished in a public forum via a google presentation. If the teams wrote their definition on the wrong slide, then other students can communicate the inaccuracy to their peers. (Example: if you edited the slide for square when you had a rectangle then the other teams would have to communicate the disagreement and reach resolution between teams)
Creativity & Innovation
Rating: Not observed – Explanation: Not a focus for this lesson
Student Artifact
Lesson Materials
