Math Lesson Plan:Geometry Straws

I received a version of this math lesson plan from a fellow special education teacher several years ago. However, the lesson plan needed some modifications. Students learn better when they are involved in hands-on activities. When you combine hearing, reading, and doing, you cover all modes of learning. This math lesson plan deals with hands on learning about geometry shapes and angles. This activity involved making shapes. How is this math lesson plan carried out? Your students will need note cards, pencils, and straws. The purpose of this math lesson plan is to make shapes with the straws.

1) First, have students use either their math books or vocabulary logs and decide on a preset list of geometry shapes and angle terms that you want students to know. I let them work in groups and write the word on one side and the definitions on the other side. The words I use are when teaching about triangles and angles are obtuse angle, acute angle, straight line, right angle, obtuse triangle, acute triangle, right triangle, scalene triangle, isosceles triangle, and equilateral triangle.

2) Beforehand, I cut different lengths of straw that can be used to make the different shapes and angles. I cut them all on a scale, so they are all basically the same size, but different lengths. I make sure some are the same length for an equilateral triangle and the sides of angles and triangles. For an isosceles triangle, they would have two sides equal. For a scalene triangle, they would have no sides equal. We precut the straws, and tie them in bundles to be given out once the activity begins.

3) In teams of no more than three, I group students together to work. We play as teams, and I set a timer for each question. Using their flashcards they just made, I will call a shape or angle, such as isosceles triangle or isosceles angle and set the timer. Each team has a set amount of time to complete the game. here is an example. I might call out isosceles triangle or isosceles angle.. The students then have 1 minute to find the isosceles flashcard, check on the definition of the word isosceles and create an isosceles triangle or angle. . We then keep scores to see who make the shapes the quickest and with the most correct responses..

After completing this portion of the math lesson plan, we can move on to other polygons , from squares to octagons. Students love this math lesson plan and seem to learn quicker about shapes, angles, and measurements when we use this hands on educational strategy. Most teachers that I know who use this math lesson plan, simply give the straws to the students and tell them which shape to make. If you use the flashcards, with definitions, and make a game out of it, I have found you have better results and better memory from your students. For students who learn better with hands on materials, you can even use the straws to test their basic knowledge about geometry. This is just one idea of a math lesson plan that will make learning geometry more fun.