! !

HOW TO TEACH 2D
AND 3D SHAPES

This blog post is all about 2nd

grade 2D and 3D shapes
activities. These activities build on
1st grade common core geometry
standards and prepare students
for 3rd grade standards. This blog
post will focus on how to use
these activities in your study of
the 2nd grade standard 2.G.1.
Your students will learn a variety
of strategies for reasoning with
shapes and their attributes.

Standards for geometry:

2nd Grade 2.G.1: Recognize and
draw shapes having specified
attributes, such as a given
number of angles or a given
number of equal faces. Identify
triangles, quadrilaterals,
pentagons, hexagons, and cubes.

Introduce Terminology

Introducing your geometry unit

with an anchor chart that reviews
key terminology and provides
visuals is highly e!ective. This
serves as a spiral review of
previous 2D and 3D shapes skills
they have learned as well as a
strong visual for this unit. In 1st
grade, students learn how to
distinguish defining shape
attributes. Reviewing these
attributes is a great warm-up for
students. This anchor chart
provides a visual for students as
they study 2D and 3D shapes and
their attributes. This is a strong
foundation for them to build
knowledge on in 2nd grade.

An essential 2D shapes activity

used is this anchor chart which
describes 2D shape attributes. It
is essential that students connect
the defining attributes to the
name and su"x of the shape
word. This will help them
understand the number of sides,
vertices, and angles more
concretely. Showing examples of
di!erent ways to make that shape
is also important. This allows the
students to think beyond the
basic version of each 2D shape.

Much like the 2D shapes activity

above, this 3D shape attributes
anchor chart serves a similar
purpose. This chart breaks down
each 3D shape figure and shows
the number of faces, edges, and
vertices. The examples of each
shape help students connect the
term “solid” to the defining
attributes. They are also able to
see the di!erences between 2D
polygons and 3D solids.

These interactive videos from

BrainPop Jr are a fun way for
students to practice recognizing
and defining 2D and 3D shapes.

BrainPop Jr- 2D Shapes

BrainPop Jr- 3D Shapes

Identifying Shapes

When focusing on 2D and 3D

shapes, it is helpful to start by
focusing on one type of shape at
a time. This gives the students
time to understand each type of
shape separately before
comparing them. One day of the
unit will solely be about 2D
shapes. After the whole group
lesson, students will work in
partners, small groups, and
individually to study these shapes
and their attributes. Hands-on
activities, interactive notebook
prompts, and leveled 2D shapes
activities are included for this
lesson.

Once the students are showing

mastery of the 2D shapes, the
next step is to study the 3D
shapes and their attributes.
Similarly, students will have a
whole group lesson featuring an
anchor chart and posters. Then,
they will work in partners, small
groups, and individually to show
what they know about 3D shapes
and their attributes. This 3D
shapes book is one of my favorite
activities in this unit as it serves as
a great “go-to guide” for the
students as they move through
this study.

Describing Attributes

Now that the students have

studied both 2D and 3D shapes in
depth, it is time to start describing
them. These 2D and 3D shapes
activities will help students
describe the attributes of di!erent
shapes. The 2D and 3D shape
cards can be mixed up for an
added challenge or separated
into 2D and 3D shapes. Having
the students describe the
attributes and then sort them
independently encourages critical
thinking skills.

Drawing Shapes

As they continue to build on the

prior 2D and 3D shapes activities,
the students are now ready to
draw shapes. Using their
knowledge of the shapes and
their attributes, the students get
to show what they know by
drawing 2D and 3D shapes. I love
how the cards in this activity have
the students trace the shape first.
This allows them to think about all
of the attributes and get a feel for
what that shape looks like and
feels like to draw. This is great for
our kinesthetic learners. After
that, the students draw their own
shape beside it. This helps our
visual learners as well by allowing
them to see how close their
drawing is to the original.

Differentiating Small
Group Activities
Cone
ere.
rawshapeh
Edges
Faces

Vertices

r
ehere.
Cylinde
Drawshap
Fdges

Sphere
eh ere.
Drawshap

Cube

DIFFERENTIATING
ShapeGetwities
Just like with any concept, not all
students will learn at the same
pace or in the same way. I have
included 3 levels of 2D and 3D
shapes activities in this unit.
Students in the remediation group
will benefit from a simple review
activity and matching practice.
On-level students may work more
on defining the attributes of the
shapes while the students in the
enrichment group are ready for
drawing shapes activities and
more challenging games. As
always, it is crucial for the teacher
to meet the students where they
are at and progress from there.
Building those foundational skills
before moving on is key.

Give Lots of Time for

Mixed Review and
Hands-On Practice
ELEMENTARY
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Geometry
FOR2ND
LESSONS
Like anything, practice makes
perfect! Giving the students
multiple opportunities to work with
these 2D and 3D shapes activities
is essential. Using a variety of
hands-on and mixed review
activities included in this unit
allows the students to practice
these concepts and become
more fluent. They will begin to
define, draw, and recognize the
di!erent shapes and their
attributes with more precision as
they work towards mastery. This
unit makes di!erentiation a
breeze, giving your students the
support they need.

2nd Grade Teaching

Suggestions…

This unit breaks down the 2nd

grade standard, 2.G.1, teaching
students how to recognize and
draw 2D and 3D shapes having
specified attributes, such as a
given number of angles or a given
number of equal faces. Students
will also learn how to identify
triangles, quadrilaterals,
pentagons, hexagons, and cubes.
All of the images you see
throughout this blog post come
from the 2D and 3D Shape
Attributes unit.

Click the buttons for the link

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Buy on TPT

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Looking for more math

blog posts?
Keeping Your Math Block
Organized
Writing About Math
How to Teach Number
Lines

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