Classifying Shapes by Attributes (First Grade)
Text on screen: First grade. Classifying Shapes by Attributes.
Logo: Count, play, explore – for early education.
On screen: In a classroom, a coach sits on the floor facing a class of first grade children. The educator sits with the children.
Coach: I’m going to hand each of you a baggie that’s going to have some cards in it, and the cards are going to have some different shapes.
On screen: The coach holds several zip lock bags full of cards. He opens one bag, pulls out the cards, and holds them up for the children to see.
Children: Oooh.
Coach: When you get your cards, I want you to sort them into different groups based on what they can be grouped with, how they can be partnered, what is the same or different about them. Does that make sense?
Children: Yes.
Coach: So when you get them, you’re going to separate them, you’re going to sort them, and then your teacher and I are going to say, “How did you decide to sort them?” or, “Why did you sort them like that?”
On screen: Several images of children sorting and grouping yellow cards, each with different shapes, including open and closed shapes. In the next scene, the educator sits on the floor with a small group of children. They respond to her questions about how they sorted the cards they have on the floor in front of them.
Educator: So what are some things that are the same? Tell me, Amelia:.
Amelia: Okay. This looks like this.
Educator: Okay, those look the same?
On screen:Amelia: picks up two cards with rectangles and holds them side by side.
Amelia: Yeah, but this one’s tilted.
Educator: It is tilted.
Educator: Do you see another one that’s almost same as that?
On screen:Amelia: picks up a third card with an open rectangle. The other child in the small group, Jordan, picks up a card and tries to hand it to Amelia:. Amelia: does not take the card from Jordan.
Amelia: This one, but this is ...
Jordan: And this one too. That’s tilted.
Amelia: No, not that one.
Educator: Jordan, is there any other shapes that are not closed all the way?
On screen: The educator looks at Jordan as she asks if there are other open shapes. She holds her fingertips together, then moves them apart to help describe that there are incomplete shapes. Jordan picks up a card with an open triangle.
Educator: Yes. So are these two open?
Jordan: Yes.
On screen: The educator takes the card with the open triangle from Jordan, picks up a card with an open rectangle, and holds them up side by side for both children to see.
Educator: Yeah, they have gaps, right? Do you see it? You said it doesn’t have a top? If I were to close it, what shape would it be?
On screen: The educator then uses her finger to cover the top of the open rectangle, making it a complete shape.
Amelia: A rectangle.
Educator: Yeah.
Jordan: And these are the same.
On screen: Jordan reaches down and picks up two cards with shaded shapes—a square and a circle—and shows them to the educator.
Educator: Okay. Why are those the same?
Jordan: Because the black and the black.
Educator: Oh, okay. They’re shaded in.
On screen: The educator kneels in front of a different pair of children—a child in a yellow striped shirt and a child in a red shirt. The child in the red shirt points to each card and explains that there is one of each shape.
Educator: Why do these not belong?
Child 1: Because there’s only one.
Educator: Oh, there’s only one what?
Child 1: Of all of these shapes? Diamond, rectangle ...
Child 2: Oval.
On screen: The child in the red shirt points to the oval, calling it a rectangle. The child in the striped shirt corrects the other child.
Child 1: Oh, yeah. Oval, chocolate kiss, and rectangle.
On screen: The educator points to the different cards. The child in the striped shirt points to the cards and names the shapes, explaining what is different about each one. At the same time, the child in the red shirt picks up the open triangle.
Educator: What’s something ...
Child 2: Because they’re not the same.
Educator: So what’s not the same? What about their attributes? Like the sides?
Child 2: Like with the hexagon.
Educator: Yeah?
Child 1: Wait, this one is different, this one’s different.
Child 2: … and chocolate kiss.
Educator: Chocolate kiss.
Child 1: This one has no point.
Child 2: And the oval and diamond.
Educator: Yeah.
Child 1: This one has no point.
Educator: Oh, it has no point. You’re right.
On screen: a close-up of the two cards as the child in the red shirt holds them side by side. One is an incomplete triangle. The second is a full triangle. The educator points to the triangle that is missing its top and then to the closed triangle.
Educator: If you were able to connect those points, what shape would it make?
Children: A triangle.
Educator: It would make a triangle. So do you see how this one has a gap?
A Child: Yeah.
Educator: That one’s called an open shape, and these are called close the shapes.
Text on screen: A special thanks to the children, families, and staff of the Kepler Neighborhood School, without whose help these videos would not have been possible. The Count Play Explore logo appears in the lower right, with the words
Logo: Count, play, explore – for early education.