Teacher: Sarah Larbah

Date: February 2012

TE Math Lesson Plan #1
Compare Shapes

Use the steps outlined in this planner to make the critical decisions involved in planning for
understanding, long-term retention, and success for all learners.
Grade: Second
Content Area: Math
Group Size: 31 students
Length: 50-60 minutes

Student Context: All students are proficient in English

PRE-PLANNING FOR THE LESSON:

Topic, Standard, and Bigger Picture

What topic will you be teaching?
Geometry Congruency and similar shapes
Key Content Standard(s):
Common Core:
Recognize and draw shapes having specified attributes, such as a given number
of angles or a given number of equal faces. Identify triangles, quadrilaterals,
pentagons, hexagons, and cubes
Key ELD Standard(s) when applicable:
N/A
How is this topic connected to students and the bigger ideas of the discipline?
Students can find a variety of shapes all around them and it is important to help them
understand that if two similar shapes are the same size then their directionality/orientation
does not affect them.
Getting to Know Your Students
1) After reading earlier grade-level standards, summarize prior experiences students will have
had with this topic:
a. Background knowledge (student experiential knowledge) what they bring from outof-school experiences
i. Students on a daily basis come in contact with a variety of shapes and sizes.
Some shapes are similar while others are completely different from each
other. Coming into the classroom, students will be bringing in this knowledge
from their interactions.
b. Prior school-based learning
In the first grade, students will have worked with a variety of shapes by
distinguishing between their defining and non-defining attributes. Some defining

attributes the students will have worked with is the number of sides. Some nondefining attributes that the students will have worked with is size, orientation, and
color.
2) Pre-Assessing Your Students
a. How have you determined what students have learned and retained (after some
activation) about this topic considering both the content and the academic
language? (e.g., a short written pre-assessment, whole-class brainstorming, one-onone assessments)
i. From a previous unit, I was able to determine that students know the names of
standard shapes such as squares and triangles and are able to identify the
number of sides that these shapes have. The student were also identify when a
shape had equal side lengths.
b. What, specifically, have you learned? What have you learned about your students to
guide your lesson planning?
i. I have learned that while students know how to identify shapes based on the
number of sides they however, do not know that we can sort groups of shapes
based on more than one common defining attribute amongst the shapes.
Many of my students are ready for the grade-level lesson
Some of my students need some review and/or re-teaching of shape names/categories
Most of my students are ready to delve more deeply into this learning objective
Learning Objective
The students will be comparing and sorting shapes based on specific attributes such as
size and shape in order to help them develop their understanding of congruency and ability to
identify figures based on their similarities.
Assessment
What, specifically, will students do to show that they have met the learning objective?
I will be assessing the students understanding of the topic through whole group
discussion and partner share. I am specifically looking for the students to explain their reasoning
about the shapes similarities/defining attributes and the use of academic language. I will also be
using the students class work to help me identify where students are struggling and to help guide
the next lessons.
Lesson Resources/Materials

TE p. 669
Activity book p. 297-299
Family letter p. 301-302
Small and big shirt shaped cutouts

 Shape cutouts (big/small triangles, big/small squares, big/small colored squares, two
same sized squares, two same sized rectangles, two same sized arrows)
Students red pens, yellow pencils, RTI pencils
Precut shapes for teacher on p.299
31 small plastic baggies
Computer
Projector
Document camera
INSTRUCTIONAL SEQUENCE: ENGAGING STUDENTS IN THE LEARNING
PROCESS
Lesson plans are written in command form providing directions for the teacher and the student.
For example: Ask the students; Write on the board; Tell students to turn to a partner and
Introduction (10 minutes):
Provide students with a story problem about similar shapes in order to help them make a
connection with shapes and their sizes
o Today boys and girls we will be exploring different shapes and sizes but first I have
a story I want to tell all of you. I have a shirt and this shirt is one of my favorite shirts
in my closet. It is a beautiful light red color, soft, and very light - perfect for the
springtime. One day my sister, Amina, was going to a birthday party at her friends
house and wanted to borrow it. I said she could as long as she promised to keep it
clean. She kept her promise but when she came back home she decided she wanted to
wash it for me so that it would be nice and fresh for me which was really nice of her but can you guess what happened (seek answers)? Yes it shrunk!!! It went from a
shirt that fit me to a shirt that would fit on a tiny baby (put up both small/large shirt
cutouts on the board). Can you believe that? Has that ever happened to you? I
couldnt believe it, I was so sad but my sister fixed it by buying me a new one which
was really nice of her
Ask students what they notice about these two figures
o What is different about the shapes? What is similar? What can we call these two
shapes?
Possible answers: they are different sizes, they are the same shape, they are
similar shapes
o E.g. Let us look at the pictures of the shirt on the board. Everything about them is the
same except for the size. They both have two long sleeves and a hole for your head to
go through so they are the same shape only a different size.

 Explain to students that we call shapes that look alike but maybe have different sizes as
similar shapes
o We call shapes that look alike but maybe have different sizes as similar shapes.
Check the Introduction. Where did you:
stimulate student interest?
connect the lesson to prior learning or introduce the new topic?
identify the learning outcomes for your students?
Body of the Lesson (30 minutes): Describe step-by-step what the teacher and the students will
be doing during the lesson.
Provide students with examples
o Place a big and a small triangle pre-made cutouts on the board
Ask are these shapes similar? What is different about them?
o Place a big and a small square pre-made cutouts on the board
Ask are these shapes similar? What is different about them?
o Place a big purple and small green square pre-made cutout on the board
Ask students are these shapes similar? (yes)
If not, have students explain their reasoning
Explain to students that color does not matter when we are looking at if the
shapes are similar we are looking the shape and the size
o Place a rectangle and a square pre-made cutout on the board
Ask are these shapes similar? Why or why not? share your thought with
your partner
Ask students to share their thoughts and explain their reasoning about why
they are not similar shapes
Possible answers: they are not the same shape, one is a rectangle and
the other is a square, they both have four sides but a rectangle is
taller/longer than a square
o Place two equal sized squares (pre-made cutouts) on the board
Ask students are these shapes similar
Possible answers:
o Yes because they look alike
o No because they are the same size and the same shape
Have students explain their reasoning
What can we say about these two shapes?
Explain to students that when we have two or more shapes that are the same shape and the
same size we call those shapes congruent shapes

o Yes, these shapes are similar because they look alike. When two or more shapes are
the same in shape and in size we call these shapes congruent shapes
o Write congruent and its meaning on the board
Congruent - shapes that have the same shape and the same size
Provide students with examples of congruent shapes
o Place two equal sized arrows (premade cutouts) on the board
Are these shapes similar? Are they congruent?
o Place two equal sized rectangles (premade cutouts) on the board one horizontal, the
other vertical
Are these shapes similar? Are they congruent? Whats different about them?
Does it matter what direction they are in?
Have student work with a partner to compare their red pens, yellow pencils, and RTI pencils
for congruency (3-5 min.)
o In a minute, I want you to work with your partner and discuss if you and your
partners red pens, yellow pencils, and RTI pencils are congruent or similar shapes.
Youll be comparing your red pen to your partners red pen, your yellow pencil to
your partners yellow pencil, etc. Talk about each item one at a time and when you are
finished talking about one you may move on to the next item by placing them back in
your cups and taking out the next item.
o When comparing them what will you be looking for (shape and size)?You may begin
by taking out your red pens
Have students share with the class about what they observed
o Pull names out of the class cup
o Have the person and their partner come up with an item and explain what they
observed about one their red pens
What did you observe when you compared your red pens (they were
congruent)?
Ask class to raise their hand if they also found the same observation
o Call another group up to share their observations about their yellow pencils
What did you observe when you compared your yellow pencils (similar)?
Ask class to raise their hand if they also found the same observation
Ask class is anyone found they had congruent yellow pencils (maybe one or
two congruent)?
o Call another group up to share their observations about their RTI pencils
What did you observe when you compared your RTI pencils (similar)?
Ask class to raise their hand if they also found the same observation
Ask class is anyone found they had congruent RTI pencils (maybe one or two
congruent)?
Have students take out their math books and tear out p. 297-299 and the family letter on p.
301

o In a minute, I would like everyone to take out their math books and tear out p. 297299 and the family letter on p. 301. Once your tear them out, please put your book
away and write your name, number, and date on each page.
o Write the page numbers on the board and assist students with IEPs to find and tear
out their pages
Have student look at p. 301 and read the family letter together
o Have students place the family letter in their homework folders on the communication
side
Have students look at p. 297 and read the directions together
o Everyone please look at p. 297 the headline says congruent figures. You find the
two shapes that are congruent in each problem. Lets look at the examples together.
In the first example, it says that these two shapes are congruent. Why are they
congruent?
Remind students that shapes direction does not affect congruency - we are
only looking at the shapes and their size
Look at the next example on p. 297
o Why are the two triangles in the next example not congruent (not the same shape)?
Have student look at p. 298
o Lets look at p. 298 the headline reads similar figures. Lets read the definition
together.
o Lets look at the examples and see if they match the definition
o The first example says they are similar why (same shape/look alike)?
o The second example says that these shapes are also similar why?
What else can we call these shapes (congruent because same shape and same
size)?
o The last example says that these shapes are not similar why (one is a circle, the
other is an oval)?
Have students look at p. 299 and explain to them that once they complete the first two pages
you want them cut out the shapes on the page and try sorting them
o Lets look at p. 299 when you are done with p. 297-298 I want you to place those
pages on your name tag and then cut out the shapes on this page. You need to cut on
the dotted lines. You will need to cut the outside of the page first and then start
cutting the squares
o Once you have cut them you can try sorting them based on any
characteristic/attribute you want.
Whats an example of a way we can sort these shapes? -- sides
o Try to see how many ways you can sort them. We will working on sorting them
together later one
See if students have any questions, then have students begin
Teacher should be walking around and assisting students as necessary

o Look for students that might be confused with similar and congruent shapes
Ask students how they know if the two shapes are congruent? Similar?
o Cutting support
When most students seem to have completed their worksheets and are working on cutting or
sorting turn on the doc cam and have them focus on you
o I need everyone to stop what they are doing and focus on the front pencils back in
their cups, scissors on the table
Ask students to look at their shapes and tell you what are some ways we can sort these shapes
o Looking at all of these shapes, what are some ways we can sort them?
Possible answers: number of sides, similar/not similar, congruent/not
congruent
Have students help you to group the shapes by the number of sides
o Have students pay attention to the number of sides in shape K (it only has two straight
sides)
Compare it to shape E (which has four straight sides)
o Put shapes C and K to the side have round sides
o Groupings:
0 sides Shape C
2 sides Shape K
3 sides Shapes D and G
4 sides Shapes B, E, F, J, L, M
5 sides Shapes A
6 sides Shapes H
Guide students to giving you the definition for polygon
o Looking at these shapes, all of them are grouped by the number of sides they have.
Some have 3, 4, 5, and 6 sides
o Whats something in common between all of them?
Guide students to say that all of the shapes have straight sides (three or more
to be specific)
Do they all have just one straight side (no)? Two straight sides? Do all of
these shapes have at least three straight sides (yes)?
We just identified a common attribute between the shapes - How can we
identify these shapes? What is a family name that we can give them?
Explain that polygons is the category/family name we give to shapes that have three or more
straight lines segments for sides
o What do we call shapes like C and K that do not have three or more straight line
segment sides not polygons
Create a chart with polygon and not polygons at the tops
o Write the definition of polygon under the term
o Sort the shapes into those categories

Polygons

Not Polygons

Shapes A, B, D, E, F, G, H, J, L, M

C, K

Check the Body of the Lesson. Where did you:

include specific instructional support to build academic language?
include the specific questions and examples you will use during the lesson?
actively engage students in the lesson?
include ways to assess each student, so that you know who needs more support to meet todays
learning objective(s)?
Closure (5 minutes):
Give each student a baggie to collect their shapes and place in their homework folder to
practice sorting them at home
Ask students What is something new you learned about shapes today?
o Call a 2-3 students to share with the class and then have students share with their
partner
Have table captains turn in their tables completed worksheets
o Incomplete work will go in their red at school folder to finish later
Check the Closure. What did the students do to:
restate the lesson objective?
make connections to the lessons learning outcome?

Engaging Students in Rich Tasks and Discourse

1. Identify the rich task related to content learning objective:
Students will be participating in whole group discussion and working with their
partners defining the meaning of similar and congruent shapes. They will be working
with their partners in identifying if their red pens, their yellow pencils, and their RTI
pencils are congruent, similar, or not similar/congruent.
2. Identify Language Demands: How will students be communicating in relation to the content
in the rich task? Be sure to include both receptive and productive.
The students will be participating in a whole group discussion in order to help
guide students towards the understanding the topic. Students will be communicating
during these discussions by stating what they observe and explaining their answers to
questions.
Students will also be participating in think-pair-share with their table partners in
which they will be communicating by identifying the shapes they are observing (using
the new terminology) and explaining why they identified the shapes as such.
3. What is your language objective based on the key language demand from list above? The
objective will include the purpose/function/genre of the language demand.
My language objective based on the key language demands listed above is to have
students compare two or more shapes and to work on identifying them as congruent,
similar, or polygon shapes. Students will then have to explain their reasoning for
identifying the shapes as such.
4. What key language skill(s) (e.g. vocabulary/symbols, syntax, genre/text structure/purpose)
related to the language demand will students need to develop during the lesson?
Vocabulary:
Congruent, similar, polygon, triangle, square, rectangle, circle, smaller, bigger, size,
Syntax:
All of these shapes have ___ side
I think these two shapes are similar/congruent because
My partner and I think that
We found that
We can sort the shapes based on
Genre/Text Structure/Purpose:
Compare and explain