Using the Shapes Song, students learn all about shapes, including Shape Names and Shape Recognition. The Shapes Song by Have Fun Teaching is a song that teaches the shapes. Shapes have names their made of angles and lines, there are flat shapes and solid shapes we see them all the…
Count the corners, name the shape
In 2nd grade, an angle is simply the corner where two straight sides meet. Kids count angles to name shapes: a triangle has 3 angles, a quadrilateral has 4, a pentagon has 5 and a hexagon has 6. They also notice that some corners are "square corners" (what they'll later call right angles), like the corners of a book. Measuring angles with a protractor comes later, in 4th grade. The click is when kids can name a shape just by counting its corners, without seeing the whole picture.
Angles are all around the classroom. These moves help kids spot and count them.
Play a shapes song and have kids draw each shape in the air as it's sung, counting the corners out loud. Sing it again and stop after each shape to ask "How many angles?" The song keeps the names and numbers together.
Why it works: words set to a repeating melody are easier to recall than the same words spoken (Wallace, 1994).
Try it withShapes SongSongsOpen it →Give kids craft sticks and play dough balls for corners. Ask them to build a shape with 3 angles, then 4, then 5. Building makes them see that every side meets another side at an angle.
Why it works: kids understand an idea best when they touch it, then draw it, then write it, the order the U.S. Department of Education recommends for elementary math.
Hand each child an index card and let them hunt the room for square corners that match the card's corner. Doors, books, tables! Then find corners that are smaller or bigger than square. It's geometry on the move.
Why it works: playful practice with a clear goal keeps kids practicing longer, and simple learning games have been shown to build real skills (Ramani and Siegler, 2008).
An angle is the corner where two straight sides of a shape meet. Second graders count angles to identify triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons and hexagons.
They often notice "square corners," which are right angles, but the formal name and measuring angles usually come in 4th grade. In 2nd grade, counting angles is the main goal.
A hexagon has 6 angles and 6 sides. Every polygon has the same number of angles as sides.
Go on a corner hunt! Count corners on cereal boxes, windows and tables. Ask your child to name shapes by counting their angles.
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