Course Guide - USAID Teacher Education Project

Faculty Preparation for Upcoming Week (1-2 hours)Look through the following websites that address polygons:● Hierarchy of Polygons: http://tinyurl.com/Polygon-Hierarchy● Sorting Polygons: http://tinyurl.com/Sorting-Polygons-1● Venn Diagram about Quadrilaterals: http://tinyurl.com/Quads-VennDownload and print out for student use:● 25 Polygons: http://tinyurl.com/25-Polygons● “Attributes of Polygons”: http://tinyurl.com/Polygons-AttributesBring to class:● Lined paper● Plain paper● Graph paper● Rulers● ScissorsRead through the plans for this week's three sessionsSession 1 begins with a pre-assessment that helps the instructor discover students'current understanding of geometry topics that are included in the elementary grades.Session 2, the first instructional session of the Unit, begins with polygons. Manytexts begin with angles (a more abstract concept) and then move to polygons (whichare more recognizable in the environment).As with Unit 1, which focused on Number and Operations by moving from theconcrete to the abstract, we will begin by exploring polygons so that students willbegin to notice the role of angles in forming these shapes.This method, based on research that helps teachers understand how children thinkabout geometry, is a helpful model in a university course supporting pre-serviceteachers.During this session, students will learn to recognize the characteristics of polygonsand begin to classify them according to number of sides, side lengths, and eventuallyequal versus non-equal angles.Session 3 will address similar polygons and use a 90-degree right angle as a"benchmark" from which other angles can be devolved and to which other angles canbe compared.