Fifth graders at Varina Elementary have been learning about 2-D shapes: parts of a circle (SOL5.9), angles and triangles (SOL5.12), and plane figures (SOL5.13). Today, students in Ms. Shiew’s class used Google Drawing to illustrate a variety of these shapes. First we went to their Google drive and clicked New > More > Google Drawings. I showed them how to use the Shapes tool to create a shape then use the paint bucket to change the fill color. The students actually found a new feature I hadn’t seen before–you can now have a gradient fill! I also showed them how to use the line tool to create congruent markers on equal sides of the shapes or to add chord, diameter, or radius lines to the circle. They used the editing tools to change the color, thickness, and endpoints of the lines (and shape outlines). To label the endpoints, students used the text box tool and typed letters. Finally, we clicked File > Download As > PNG Image. I explained that one difference between PNG and JPG images is that the PNG image will have a transparent background. We shared our images on Google classroom with questions for our classmates to answer, like “What is the line AB on the circle?” or “What type of triangle is in my picture?” You can see all their shapes here.
