CONCEPT ATTAINMENT LESSON PLAN

Lesson Title: Two-Dimensional and Three-Dimensional Shapes

Subject Area: Mathematics Specific Content: Geometry

Grade Level: First Grade Length of Lesson: 40 minutes

Instructional Objective(s):
 By the end of this lesson, students will be able to tell the difference between two-
dimensional and three-dimensional shapes.
 By the end of this lesson, students will be able to create two-dimensional and three-
dimensional shapes.

State Content Standard / Benchmark / Grade Level Expectation:

 1.G.1 Distinguish between defining attributes (e.g., triangles are closed and three-sided)
versus non-defining attributes (e.g., color, orientation, overall size); build and draw
shapes to possess defining attributes.
 1.G.2 Compose two-dimensional shapes (rectangles, squares, trapezoids, triangles, half-
circles, and quarter-circles) or three-dimensional shapes (cubes, right rectangular prisms,
right circular cones, and right circular cylinders) to create a composite shape.

Long-Term Unit Objective:

 By the end of this unit, students will be able to separate circles and rectangles into equal
halves and fourths.
o Corresponding Objective
 1.G.3 Partition circles and rectangles into two and four equal shares,
describe the shares using the words halves, fourths, and quarters, and use
the phrases half of, fourth of, and quarter of. Describe the whole as two of,
or four of the shares. Understand for these examples that decomposing
into more equal shares creates smaller shares.

Yesterday’s Lesson: Prior to this lesson, students will use chalk to draw two-dimensional
shapes outside on the pavement. Students will be asked to number the sides of each shape and
label each shape with the proper name. This will prepare students for the lesson they will be
learning today.

Tomorrow’s Lesson: In future lessons, students will be learning how to separate circles and
rectangles into two equal halves and four equal quarters. Students will learn this concept using
pretend pizzas and pies. Students will create their pizzas and/or pies using paper cut into circles
and/or rectangles. Students will color in their shape to look like either a pizza or a kind of pie.
Finally, students will use scissors to cut their pizza or pie into two equal halves and then once
more to create fourths or quarters.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Behaviors Needed:

Skills: Students will need to be able to communicate with their peers and write the names
of shapes (two-dimensional and three-dimensional) sounding them out if necessary.

Concepts: For this lesson, students will need to know the names of shapes both two-
dimensional and three-dimensional. These names should have been learned in
Kindergarten but they could be reviewed, if necessary, for this lesson. Students will also
need to recall the distinguishing properties of each shape (for instance, that a triangle has
3 sides).

Behaviors: Students will need to be able to sit and listen to directions. Students will also
need to use all materials safely and properly. Expected behaviors will be reviewed at the
beginning of the lesson to remind students of the teacher’s expectations for this lesson.

Why is the Content of Today’s Lesson Relevant for Your Students? Today’s content is
relevant to the students because this lesson (and the future ones to follow it) incorporate all three
geometry standards for first grade students. It is important that students are able to meet these
standards before moving on to more complex ones in second grade. This lesson is also relevant
because learning about “parts of a whole” is a concept that can be applied outside of geometry.

Materials:

Materials needed: Concept attainment chart (pre-made by the teacher), dry erase
markers or chalk, mini marshmallows, dry spaghetti, Clorox wipes, pencils, strips of
white paper.

Where are your materials to be kept until their use during the lesson? All materials
will be stacked neatly near the teacher’s desk so that they are ready to go when it is time
to start this lesson. Pencils, crayons, and other common classroom materials are kept on a
wooden shelf near the student tables so they can easily be accessed at any point during
the lesson.

When will your materials be passed out? Materials will be passed out as needed. For
instance, the dry spaghetti and mini marshmallows aren’t needed until the actual lesson
so they will be passed out after the teacher gives instructions.

How will materials be passed out? Materials will be passed out by the teacher to ensure
that equal amounts are given to each table. Materials are also to be passed out by the
teacher to cut down on student disruptions caused by students constantly getting up out of
their seats.

Model of Teaching: This lesson will start with concept attainment to get students interested in
the topic of geometry. Most of this lesson will be taught using direct instruction as the target
audience is a class of first graders who often need guidance through a lesson or activity.
However, there will be independent work time where students will be able to explore different
two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes in a creative way.

Procedures
Concept Attainment:
1. Teacher: “Class, I have a challenge for you. I am going to show you a chart with two
columns. Each side of the chart will have three examples. You are going to talk with your
table to try and figure out what the pattern in for each column.” The teacher will ask if
any of the students have questions before showing the chart to everyone.
2. The teacher will show the chart to the class and give them 5 minutes to discuss with their
table.
Column A Column B

3. After 5 minutes, the teacher will get the attention of the class and explain that 3
new examples will be added and it is their job to figure out which column the new
shapes belong in and why. The teacher will place the 3 new examples on the
board and tell the students they have 5 more minutes to talk with their table to
figure out which column the new examples belong in.
New Examples:

A B C
4. When 5 minutes have passed, the teacher will get the attention of the class and ask
students, “where do you think shape A belongs?” and students should answer,
“column B.” The teacher will repeat this process for examples B and C which will
move into column A. The teacher will then ask, “raise your hand if you can tell
me what the pattern is for column A?” and if students have figured out the pattern,
they will say, “the shapes in column A are all two-dimensional.” The teacher will
say, “correct, which means the shapes in column B are all…?” and the students
will answer chorally, “three-dimensional!” The teacher will label the shapes in
column A as “two-dimensional” and the shapes in column B as “three-
dimensional for student reference.
Lesson:
1. Teacher: “At this point in the year, we have talked about the names of two-dimensional
and three-dimensional shapes. For example, this (teacher will point to the square shape
in column A) is a square. Raise your hand if you can tell me the name of the three-
dimensional square.” Students will raise their hands and the teacher will call on a student
who will hopefully answer, “a cube!”
2. Teacher: “Yesterday, we went outside and drew two-dimensional shapes on the ground
with chalk. Today, we are going to build three-dimensional shapes using mini
marshmallows and dry spaghetti. When you receive your supplies, you will first
construct the shape in its’ two-dimensional form and then build the three-dimensional
model. You will be making a cube, a cylinder, a pyramid, a cone, and a rectangular
prism. Do you have any questions?” The teacher will answer any questions students have
before passing out materials.
3. Students will receive dry spaghetti and mini marshmallows for their table. Tables will
work together to build each shape. I have opted to use dry spaghetti instead of toothpicks
for this lesson because I want to see how students will break the dry spaghetti as it may
result in shapes of different sizes. Students will have 15-20 minutes to complete all 5
shapes. 3D shapes will be projected on the white board during this time for reference.
4. After 20 minutes have passed, the teacher will ask all students to put the mini
marshmallows and spaghetti down. The teacher will turn off the projector and ask
students to label each shape. Students will have up to 5 minutes to do this.
5. When students are finished labeling their shapes, the teacher will ask all students to walk
around the room and observe the work of their peers. During this time, the teacher will
photograph the shapes on each table for assessment.

Closure:
1. After 5 minutes of observing, the teacher will call the class to attention. The teacher will
put the chart used during the concept attainment part of the lesson back on the board. The
teacher will ask students the names of the shapes. The teacher will point to a shape and
ask, “what is the name of this two- (or three) dimensional shape?” and students will raise
their hands to respond. This will reinforce the naming of the shapes that is listed in the
objectives section.
2. Once all of the shapes are labeled in both column A and column B, the teacher will ask
students to clean up, disposing of shape structures in the trash and wiping down tables
with Clorox wipes.

How did you address student learning styles during this lesson?

Visual – Students who are visual learners will benefit from the concept attainment chart
used at the beginning of the lesson. Visual learners will also benefit from having a model
of three-dimensional shapes projected onto the white board during the building process
for reference.

Auditory – Auditory learners are also likely to benefit from the concept attainment chart
as they will have to talk and listen to their group to try and figure out the pattern. In fact,
 much of this lesson is auditory as students will be constantly communicating with their
table to move through the different steps of the lesson.

Kinesthetic – Kinesthetic learners will enjoy the physical building part of this lesson.
Students will have the opportunity to practice their fine motor skills as they build three-
dimensional shapes out of mini marshmallows and dry spaghetti. Kinesthetic learners will
also benefit from the walking around period that occurs after students build and label
their shapes.

Tactile – Tactile learners “learn by doing” and like the kinesthetic learners, they will
benefit from the physical building part of this lesson. Hopefully, tactile learners will learn
about the difference in two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes by building them
out of the materials for this lesson.

Other approaches: Even though this lesson is appealing to the different learning styles,
it still involves sitting in a chair at a table. The teacher in this lesson could incorporate a
bit of flexible seating and give students the option to work with their group sitting on the
floor or standing at their tables.

Assessment Criteria:

What tangible evidence will demonstrate your students’ learning today? The two-
dimensional and three-dimensional shapes will be evidence of students’ learning. The
teacher will take photographs of each table’s shapes as the shapes are likely to fall and
crumble throughout the day. Photographs can be reviewed by the teacher later and used
to fill in students who may have missed the lesson due to an absence.

What will be considered quality work? Quality work will be a shape that is made
correctly with the appropriate label. For instance, if students used spaghetti of different
lengths to create a cube and labeled it as such, this wouldn’t be quality work because one
of the characteristics of a cube is four equal sides on each side. Similarly, a cube labeled
as a ‘square’ isn’t quality work either as ‘square’ is the name for the two-dimensional
shape. Labels must match a correctly made shape to be considered quality work.

Do you need a rubric to structure your assessment? A formal rubric will not be
necessary for this assessment. I would use this lesson and the “yesterday” and
“tomorrow” lesson to form one assessment on this topic. This lesson focuses mainly on
three-dimensional shapes although a review of two-dimensional shapes is built in. The
corresponding standards require that students not only name the shapes but are also able
to cut them into equal parts which is the “tomorrow” lesson. Once students have drawn
and labeled two-dimensional shapes (“yesterday’s lesson”), constructed three-
dimensional shapes out of dry spaghetti and mini marshmallows (“today’s lesson”), and
made pizzas or pies and cut them into halves and fourths (“tomorrow’s lesson”), then the
objectives will be met and students will be assessed based on all of these lessons.
 Will students also self-assess using this rubric? I don’t think I would have students
self-assess for this lesson. However, much of this lesson involves working with a group,
so I may consider a peer rubric so students had the opportunity to review how well (or
not) their group worked together. I’m not sure if this is something that is appropriate for
this age group though…

Gender or cultural concerns may affect your instructional or assessment choices in this
lesson. If appropriate, identify these and describe how you will address them: Overall, I
don’t think there are any major gender or cultural concerns with this lesson. The only challenge
may be for English Language Learners who struggle with spelling the correct names for the two-
dimensional and three-dimensional shapes. However, when the teacher posts the three-
dimensional shapes and their names on the white board during the construction period, I’m sure a
version of that could be found and/or created with the ELL student’s native language.

Instructional Modifications – Describe a student in your class who has special needs.
Consider how you might modify your instruction and / or assessment for this student.
Traditional print, Internet and NETS resources can assist you: One student in the class has a
hearing impairment. The teacher in this class wears a microphone around her neck so that this
student is always able to hear. I could wear a microphone during the instruction of this lesson so
that this student doesn’t miss the important directions. However, if a classroom wasn’t equipped
with this technology, I could seat that student strategically in the classroom or stand near her
during instruction time so she could hear.

Technology – What technology might enhance this lesson or this unit at some point?
Traditional print, Internet and NETS resources can assist you: PBS has an app called the
Cyberchase 3D Builder (http://pbskids.org/apps/cyberchase-3d-builder.html) and has 8 levels in
which the app user must help rebuild buildings using both 2D and 3D shapes. This app could be
used as an extension of this unit or could be set up for students who finish any of the lessons
early.

How will you provide for mass and distributive practice for this objective? Shapes are all
around us. Meeting the objectives of this lesson doesn’t simply fulfill the requirement for grade
1. Students will continue to see two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes in future lessons
and grades. Geometry is a subject that doesn’t start and stop in first grade. Knowing the names of
two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes provides a useful foundation that students will
reference throughout their mathematics education.