Tangram Lesson

I saw a teacher in bloggy land somewhere do a lesson on tangrams that I wanted to try with my group. I had a whole manila folder filled with 30 sets that I had no idea what to do with! So I thought this would be a fun lesson for after state testing.

Oh, boy, this entertained them for FORTY MINUTES! It was one of those times where I thought, we'll just see where this goes, but I was so shocked by how long and how diligently they worked to make the shapes.

We read Grandfather Tang. I displayed the book on my Elmo and showed them the shapes when we reached that point. They did a nice job of predicting which animals was coming up next, and of making them.

I was excited by their enthusiasm. Some kids were really confident, even some of my lowest math learners. Other students who excel in math and reading struggled with manipulating the shapes. Other kids loved to go around and help kids get things turned around.

They really did a great job, and I would TOTALLY do this again with another book!


At the end, I challenged them to try to make the square. One student got it quickly! Because of time, I showed them the "key" and they groaned because they wanted to figure it out on their own...it was cute!