This book is a fun way to reinforce the shape rectangle.    Using riddles and counting from 10-1, Ms. Borando shows various ways to use rectangles in art.

Materials

• Manila folder or cardboard cut into various sized rectangles.
• Rectangle shape page
• Directions for drawing animals
• Box of envelopes and stickers
• List of names of the children in your classroom
• Parquetry shapes

Vocabulary

• Rectangle (a shape that has four sides, two are longer and two are shorter)

Before Reading the Story

Play a shape game that you have already taught the children.  Or make a large triangle, rectangle, square, circle, and oval out of construction paper.  Cut out the kitten picture.  Have a child hide their eyes and hide the kitten under one of the shapes.  The child then uncovers their eyes and has three tries to guess which shape the kitten is hiding under.  Tell the children that they must call out the shapes name and not just point to their guess.  With younger children only use three shapes to start.  Give everyone a turn to hide his or her eyes and guess where the kitten is hiding.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; begins to recognize, describe, compare, and name common shapes, their parts and attributes.

Reading the Story

After each page with the riddle, wait before turning the page so the children have time to guess what the animal might be.  On the pages where it shows the animals, count the objects with the children.  Act out the actions in a simple manner to help the children understand all the words.

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing abilities to classify, compare, and contrast objects, events, and experiences.

After Reading the Story

Ask the children if they can recall the animals in the story.  Give them hints by reading what the action is that the animal was doing. (10 and fluttering dragonflies, 7 peck, peck, pecking chickens, etc.).

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; shows growing interest and involvement in listening to and discussing a variety of fiction and non-fiction, and poetry.

Discovery

Put out a shell or rock collection today along with a piece of black construction paper (this is a rectangular shape).  Encourage the children to use the collection to go around the edges of the paper.  You can also cut out a square, triangle, and circle shape to go around.  This is also fun to do with play dough.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; builds an increasing understanding of directionality, order, and positions of objects, and words such as up, down, over, under, top, bottom, inside, outside, in front, and behind.

Music and Movement

Teach the children The Rectangle Poem.  As you say the poem with the children, encourage them to draw the shape in the air.

A long line at the bottom,
A long line at the top,
A short line to connect each side,
A rectangle you’ve got!
A short line at the bottom
A short line at the top
A long line to connect each side
A rectangle you’ve got!

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; begins to recognize, describe, compare, and name common shapes, their parts and attributes.

Sing The Shape Song to the tune of Frere Jacques /https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC6rvbxdywg

(Draw the shapes on a marker board as you sing the song).

This is a square, this is a square,
How can you tell? How can you tell?
It has four sides,
All the same size.
It’s a Square, It’s a Square.
This is a circle, this is a circle.
How can you tell? How can you tell?
It goes round and round,
No end can be found.
It’s a circle, It’s a circle.
This is a triangle, this is a triangle.
How can you tell? How can you tell?
It only has three sides,
That join to make three points.
It’s a Triangle, It’s a triangle.
This is a Rectangle, This is a rectangle.
How can you tell? How can you tell?
It has two short sides
And it has two long sides.
It’s a rectangle, It’s a rectangle.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; begins to recognize, describe, compare, and name common shapes, their parts and attributes.

Blocks

Ask the children to sort your wooden blocks by rectangles and not-rectangles.  When they have finished sorting, have them sort the rectangle blocks by size (serration).

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; shows growth in matching, sorting, putting in a series, and regrouping objects according to one or two attributes such as color, shape, or size.

Art

Ahead of time, cut out many rectangles from colored construction paper.  Put all the rectangles out on the table along with the book, Shapes, Reshape and glue sticks.  Allow the children to collage using the rectangles however they choose.  Are any of the children making simple patterns?  Are any copying one of the animal shapes in the book?

Creative Arts/Art; begins to understand and share opinions about artistic products and experiences.

Sand and Water

If you have parquetry shapes, add them to the table today along with water.  Give the children pinchers to try to pick up the shapes out of the water.  As they pick up the shapes, ask them to name them for you.  (You picked up a green circle.  How many red rectangles do you have?).

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; begins to recognize, describe, compare, and name common shapes, their parts and attributes.

Library and Writing

Put out the how to draw animal cards along with markers or crayons.  Show the children how to follow the directions step-by-step to make a variety of simple animal shapes.  Color and embellish. 

Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; demonstrates increasing ability to set goals and develop and follow through on plans.

Dramatic Play

Put the envelopes into the center today and tell the children that they can pretend to mail letters to their friends.  Use stickers for the stamps.  Show the children where to address the envelope so the postman will know who to deliver it to.  Encourage the children to write their name or a friend’s name.  Put out a box or cubby to be the mailbox and later in the day you can deliver the mail by putting the envelopes in the children’s cubbies according to whose name is in the address area.

Literacy/Early Writing; progresses from using scribbles, shapes, a or pictures to represent ideas, to using letter-like symbols, to copying or writing familiar words such as their own name. AND Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to associate number concepts, vocabulary, quantities, and written numerals in meaningful ways.

Math and Manipulatives

Cut out the rectangle page and show the children how to make letters using the various sized rectangles.  Can they name any of the letters? 

Literacy/Alphabet Knowledge; shows progress in associating the names of letters with their shapes and sounds.

Give the children the pictures of shape sin everyday objects to sort by like kinds.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; begins to recognize, describe, compare, and name common shapes, their parts and attributes.

Outdoor Play

Does your center have a balance beam?  If so, show the children how it is a rectangle shape, two long sides and two short.  Let the children practice walking the balance beam.  Can they slide across; walk forward, and/or backward across the beam?  My children liked to pretend that there were alligators on the ground if they fell off.  We did not have a balance beam so used the sandbox border as our balance beam. 

Physical Health & Development/Gross Motor Skills; shows increasing levels of proficiency , control, and balance in walking, climbing, running, jumping, hopping, skipping, marching, and galloping.

Transitions

Send the children on a shape hunt.  Give each child a shape cut out from paper.  Have the child name their shape and then look around the room for something that is the same shape as their paper.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; begins to recognize, describe, compare, and name common shapes, their parts and attributes.

Resources