Properties of Shape - Triangle Activity - Planning

In the second week of the summer term, Year 4 students embark on a journey to explore the properties of triangles through a series of engaging activities. The lesson utilises a variety of resources, including a presentation, lolly sticks, and a geoboard with elastic bands to facilitate hands-on learning. Key vocabulary such as '2-D', '3-D', 'sides', 'vertices', 'polygon', and 'odd-one-out' are introduced and defined, with additional support available through vocabulary cards on the website. The session begins with a starter activity to refresh the children's memory of previous lessons, followed by independent learning tasks that challenge them to identify and classify shapes based on their properties, such as dimensionality, side types, and whether they are closed polygons.

Practical reasoning exercises encourage creativity and critical thinking, asking students to construct various polygons using lolly sticks and to draw triangles on a grid using a geoboard. These activities not only solidify their understanding of shape properties but also help them to recognise triangles by their three sides, straight edges, and vertices, regardless of the shape's orientation or size. The lesson is structured to cater to different levels of understanding, with activities designed for those working towards expected standards and those aiming for greater depth. Throughout the lesson, children are prompted to reflect on what they have learnt, the skills they've used and found challenging, and the support that aided their learning, ensuring that the key properties of triangles are firmly grasped and remembered.