Area - Making Shapes - Planning

In an engaging lesson tailored for Year 4 students, the focus is on exploring the area of rectilinear shapes during the first week of the Spring term. The lesson kicks off with a starter activity where students recap what they've learned previously, setting the stage for the day's objective. The class then delves into the concept of area, specifically targeting rectilinear shapes, which are shapes with straight sides and right angles. Key vocabulary such as 'area', 'rectilinear shapes', 'squares', 'sides', and 'corners' is introduced, with resources like differentiated sheets and teaching slides to support learning. Students are encouraged to discuss and create various rectilinear shapes by systematically arranging a given number of squares, ensuring that the squares touch at the sides rather than just at the corners.

Through a series of activities, students apply their understanding of area by drawing rectilinear shapes with a specific number of squares on squared paper and calculating the area of rectangles using multiplication. They are prompted to consider real-life applications, such as tiling a bathroom, and to practice efficient methods for finding the area. The lesson also includes partner discussions, reasoning challenges, and independent work with differentiated worksheets to deepen understanding and address common misconceptions. Students reflect on the lesson by identifying what they have learned, the skills they used and found challenging, and what they will remember moving forward. The lesson is structured to cater to different levels of mastery, from working towards the expected level to achieving greater depth in problem-solving and reasoning with shapes.