The purpose of this activity is to introduce students to the names of solid shapes as they build shapes with clay. Students create both flat and solid shapes, based on objects or images. In the Activity Synthesis, students use their own language to describe the shapes they created.

• Display a student-created cone.
• “Tell your partner all about this shape.” (It looks like an ice cream cone. It is a cone. It has a circle on the top and a point at the bottom. The sides are round, not flat. It is a solid shape.)
• “In the next activity, you are going to practice describing solid shapes to your partner.”

The purpose of this activity is for students to learn Stage 3 of the Geoblocks center. Students describe solid shapes, using their own language. Students provide clues so that their partner can identify the shape out of a set of four to six solid shapes. While students may correctly name the solid shapes, it is not expected in this lesson. Students may describe the shapes in many ways. Monitor for students who:

• Reference a familiar object: “This shape looks like a ball.”
• Describe attributes or parts of the shape, such as “point” and “circle” for a cone.
• Use the name of the shape: “This shape is a cube.”
• Use positional words: “This shape is next to the one that looks like a box.”

The purpose of the Activity Synthesis is to highlight the language students use to describe shapes (MP6). 

If students guess a shape that is not being described, consider asking:

• “What clues did your partner give you?”
• If needed, consider prompting students to eliminate some of the shapes. For example, ask, “Your partner said that the shape has a round part. Are there any shapes that do not have round parts?”

• Invite previously identified students to share.
• “Which clues did your partner give that were helpful to you?” (My partner said their shape was tall and had a circle on the top and the bottom.)

The purpose of this activity is for students to choose from activities that offer practice with number and shape concepts.

Students choose any previously introduced stage from these centers:

• Geoblocks
• Counting Collections
• Match Mine
• Shake and Spill

• “Let’s practice using clues to find a solid shape in the Lesson Synthesis.”