We are a classroom full of inquisitive four-year-olds. We are developing our language skills and mathematical knowledge. Some of us come with knowledge about shapes, some of us still do not name shapes. We support children's knowledge of shapes throughout the our day of purposeful play.
My students are all four-year-olds that come from Spanish-speaking households.
Our class is taught primarily in Spanish, and we introduce some English. My students also primarily come from low-income families. My school has a diverse population, however, my students do not come from my school's neighborhood. Rather, my classroom is a magnet for students in four different school attendance areas that need 4K in Spanish.
My Project
At my last school, I has access to die cut geometric shapes. We not only use the shapes for practicing naming shapes, but for other mathematical inquiry learning as well. Children use them to create their own patterns. The four-year-olds use them to make art projects, mosaics out of shapes. The shapes can be used for counting and color identification. We use the shapes also for the student to look at and attempt to draw on their own. The shapes can also be used to make shape matching memory games. The ability to use the die cut to make shapes out of construction paper has so many uses!
This year, with our access to a die cut machine, I tried cutting by hand small shapes for the children to use.
It is both terribly time-consuming, and the shapes are not as neat as when done by the die cutter. The machine will allow more to be made quickly, and therefore, more shapes will be available for children to use more often and in more ways.
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