Section II Fundamental Concepts and Skills Unit 12 Early Geometry: Shape ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved

Section IIFundamental Concepts and Skills

Unit 12Early Geometry: Shape

©2013 Cengage Learning.All Rights Reserved.

The Importance of the Concept of Shape

• The concept of shape is the basis for understanding geometry.

• Young children can recognize, name, build, draw, compare and sort shapes.


Examples of Shape Activities

Naturalistic Activitiesg

*Most important in learning shape

• Infants learn from looking at, grasping, touching, and tasting objects

• Toddlers need many shapes to sort and match

• Preschool child likes junk boxes such as buttons, bottle caps and keys to sort and explore

InformalActivities

• Comment on the child’s use of shape

• Supply the child with ideas and objects to fit her needs

• Label the items children play with and that are used within the classroom, such as square placemats

• Pay attention to the child when she refers to shape

Adult Guided Activities

• Haptic activities• Visual activities• Visual-motor activities


Haptic Activities

• Using the sense of touch to match or identify shapes– place objects in a bag or wrap in a cloth for

the child to feel and identify• find one object, then find another that is the same• be shown one object, then find another that is the

same• find an object after being given the name of the

object


Visual Activities

• Use the sense of sight– child is given a visual or verbal clue and must

choose from several shapes• real objects or pictures can be used


Visual-Motor Activities

• Use the sense of sight and motor coordination– puzzles, attribute blocks, flannel boards,

magnetic boards, Colorforms®, and paper cut-outs.

• child may sort the objects into groups or arrange them in a picture or a design.


Assessment and Evaluation

• Does the child use shapes to organize her world?• Does the child use the word shape?• Individual interview tasks center on

– discrimination—can the child see if one form is different from another?

– labeling—can the child find a shape when given the name?

– matching—can the child find a shape like one shown to her?

– sorting—can the child separate a group of mixed shapes into similar shapes?


Section IIFundamental Concepts and Skills

Unit 14Parts and Wholes


The Importance of Parts and Wholes

• The concept of parts and wholes is the bridge to understanding fractions.


Three Types of Part/Whole Relationships

• Some things are made up of special parts

• Groups of things can be divided into parts

• Whole things can be divided into smaller parts


Examples of Parts and Wholes Activities

NaturalisticActivities

• Infants discover about parts and wholes through exploration

• Toddlers learn about parts and wholes as they sort and move items about

• Preschool children recognize and talk about parts and wholes during daily activities

Informal Activities

• Use words such as part, whole, divide, and half

• Ask children to decide on a fair way to settle property disputes.

Adult Guided Activitiest

• Present adult guided activities that help children be aware of special parts of

– people

– animals

– things

• Present activities that involve dividing groups into smaller groups.


Assessment and Evaluation

• Does the child use the words part and whole?• Does the child use the words correctly?• Observe the child’s actions:

– does she divide items equally to share with friends?– does she cut or break things into smaller pieces, if

there are not enough for everyone?– does she realize when part of something is missing?– does she realize that people, animals, and things

have parts that are unique to each?


Documents

Section II Fundamental Concepts and Skills Unit 12 Early Geometry: Shape ©2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved