Kindergarten to Grade 3 Geometry and Spatial Sense

• providing opportunities to measure, fold, and cut two-dimensional shapesto investigate and identify their properties (e.g., fold a square to observe thatall sides are equal);• providing experiences in constructing and manipulating shapes on a computer(e.g., using the drawing tools in KidPix or AppleWorks/ClarisWorks);• providing opportunities to locate and describe examples of two-dimensionalshapes and three-dimensional figures in the environment;• providing many experiences in sorting and classifying two-dimensionalshapes and three-dimensional figures according to a variety of observableattributes, and in discussing why a shape or figure belongs or does notbelong to a certain category;• having them describe the similarities and differences between two twodimensionalshapes or two three-dimensional figures;• discussing the properties and attributes of three-dimensional figures. Forexample, students can explain that a cone has a circular face (property) andthat it rolls on its curved surface (attribute);• providing experiences in building structures using concrete materials (e.g.,building blocks, construction sets) and in discussing the two-dimensionalshapes and three-dimensional figures in the structure;• providing experiences in constructing models of three-dimensional figures(e.g., making a cube using modelling clay);• allowing them to hear teachers use and explain correct geometric terminology,even if students are not expected to use the vocabulary themselves. For example,the teacher might say, “Yoko called this shape a squished rectangle. This shapeis a quadrilateral because it is a shape with four sides.”GRADE 2In general, students in Grade 2:• identify concrete and pictorial examples of squares, rectangles, and triangles,regardless of form, size, or orientation (e.g., the following square and triangle);The shape looks like a diamond,but it is a square because it hasfour equal sides and four square corners.The shape is long and thin,but it is a triangle becauseit has three sides.Properties of Two-Dimensional Shapes and Three-Dimensional Figures 21