Big Ideas of Shape: Books

shape books

Books

Everything in the material world has shape. However, in mathematics, the focus is very much on regular shapes, such as the two-dimensional circle, triangle, and rectangle (including everyone’s favorite rectangle, the square) and the three-dimensional solids known as spheres and polyhedrons (that is, geometric solids with flat faces and straight edges). In our everyday world, these solids commonly appear in objects we describe as boxes, pyramids, blocks, cylinders, and balls. Children in a math-rich early childhood environment will have many experiences working with shape, and the books they interact with can help further discussions, helping them to think deeper about the attributes of different shapes.

Copyright: Erikson Institute’s Early Math Collaborative. Reprinted from Big Ideas of Early Mathematics: What Teachers of Young Children Need to Know (2014), Pearson Education.

Big Ideas

● Shapes can be combined and separated (composed and decomposed) to make new shapes.
● The flat faces of solid (three-dimensional) shapes are two-dimensional shapes.
● Shapes can be defined and classified according to their attributes.

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At-Home Activity Cards: Shapes

Books can illustrate kindergarten and preschool shape concepts while introducing foundational Big Ideas of math. These activity cards can help take the learning to the home environment where parents and caregivers can spark such discussion.