This lesson is designed to teach preschool children about five basic

shapes- square, rectangle, triangle, circle, and star.

Objectives:
Following instruction on the five basic shapes, the preschool
students will be able to recognize and name each shape with 100
percent accurac.
!fter doing a hands-on e"periment with the different shapes, the
preschool students will be able to draw each shape to the best of
their abilit.
!fter instruction on the characteristics of each shape, the preschool
students will be able to name at least one defining characteristic of
each shape.
Rationale:
This is one of the first lessons the children will learn on shapes. This
lesson focuses on five basic geometric shapes. The lesson will
focus on the names for the shapes, as well as each of their
characteristics that ma#es them that shape. The #nowledge
acquired in this lesson will give the children #nowledge of other
shapes as well as other defining characteristics. The students have
not discussed shapes in our preschool class, but ma have
bac#ground #nowledge from their home life in this area of stud.
Lesson Plan:
1. First, $ will as# the students if the #now an names of shapes.
$ will also inquire about where the see different shapes around their
homes or outside. $ will also give e"amples of m own. %&"amples:
lights on a traffic light, television sets, buildings, etc.' ( minutes
). $ will then sa to the class the following: *Toda we will be
learning about ( basic shapes- circles, squares, triangles,
rectangles, and stars. +e see these different shapes everda, and
it is ver important for us to recognize these shapes. +e will be
counting the sides and corners of each shape. , doing this, we will
be able to identif the shape name.- . minutes
.. *First, we will learn about circles. /ircles are round. /an
anone give me an e"ample of a circle ob0ect in our house1 +hat
about in our classroom1 /ircles do not have straight edges or
corners. %$ will then hang the large ellow circle on the chal#board'
2. 3e"t we will learn about squares. There are man squares in
our everda life. /an anone thin# of an ob0ect that has a square
shape1 4quares have four straight sides that are all the same
length, or size. %$ will put up the blue square on the chal#board.
5ointing to the shape, $ will e"plain:' Two sides meet to form
corners. There are four corners in ever square. +e are in a
squared room right now. There are four corners in this room.
(. 3e"t, we will learn about rectangles. 6ectangles are almost
li#e squares, but their sides are not all the same size. %$ will put the
green rectangle on the chal#board' 3e"t, we will learn about
triangles. Triangles have three sides. %$ will hang the red triangle on
the board, point to this shape, and sa:' Two sides of a triangle
come together to form corners also. 7ow man corners does a
triangle have1 /an anone thin# of some triangles we see in
everda life1
8. Finall we will learn about stars. %$ will put the purple star on
the board' 4tars are made up of small triangles. ! star has five
corners, and 10 sides. $ will then pass out one of each #ind of food
shape to each child to show the differences between the ( basic
shapes. )0 minutes
9. +hen $ finish m short discussion on shapes, $ will then as#
the class if the have an questions. $ will answer and e"plain an
questions or confusion, and then do a short activit with the class.
&ach child should have been given three small, laminated shapes of
a ellow circle, blue square, red triangle, green rectangle, and purple
star made of colored construction paper. $ will then sa the following:
*/lass, $ am going to as# ou questions about the shapes we
learned about toda. +hen ou #now what shape $ am describing,
please hold our shape up high in the air.
1. +hich shape has three corners1
2. +hich shape is round1
3. +hich shape has four sides that are all the same1
4. +hich shape is made of small triangles1
5. +hich shape has no straight edges1
6. +hich shape has five corners1
7. +hich shape has four sides that loo# different1
8. +hich shape has three sides and three corners1
). The students ma then eat their *shapes- that the were given
previousl. 9 minutes
.. ! short and simple ditto will be handed out to the students.
&ach student will individuall finish and show the teacher the ditto
when completed. 1( minutes
2. Finall, $ will review the shapes one last time b holding up the
larger shapes to the entire class and have them answer as a group
what shape it is that $ am holding up for them to see. 10 minutes
Comments:
$ am a third ear &arl /hildhood &ducation:&d. of &"ceptional
5ersons students at $ndiana ;niversit of 5ennslvania. This lesson
was created for /<.01, a Technolog in &ducation class that $ am
currentl ta#ing at $;5.
Grade Level(s): 5reschool
By: !manda /huba