Grades K-1
48 activities—264 pages

Triangles, rectangles, and squares jump off the pages as the activities in Getting Into Geometry have students using movement and their senses to learn the names and attributers of two-dimensional shapes. Early learners will step out the shapes, use scarves to draw them in the air, and make shape snakes out of fuzzy chenille stems. They will also find shapes in their world—on the bus, in the classroom, outdoors, and in photographs.

Once they have learned the 2-D shapes, students will compose them into other shapes like tangram trees, planes, animals, etc., helping them understand that the shape remains the same regardless of its orientation. Cutting, folding, and painting are used to teach children about line symmetry.
Moving to three-dimensional solids, young learners will compare and contrast their basic attributes. They will relate the 3-D objects to their 2-D picture representations and will combine 3-D solids to create new solids.

 A section is included on spatial relationships in which students describe the relative positions of objects using terms such as “in front of,” “behind,” “next to,” “above,” and “below.” Finally, there is a section of playful practice that uses games to reinforce concepts learned throughout the book.