All About 3D Shapes

Kindergarten Math, ESL

In this hands-on lesson plan, students will learn learn all about 3D shapes in the real world. Can be used as a
stand alone lesson or pre-lesson for the Solid Shapes lesson plan.

Objectives

Objectives

Academic

Students will be able to identify 3D shapes in objects they use in their daily lives.

Language

Students will be able to describe 3D shapes using sentence stems and visual supports.

Materials and preparation Vocabulary

Chart paper TIER 2

Variety of everyday items to demonstrate 3D
shapes (globe, blocks, balloon, plate, traffic shape: the outline of something
cone, can of soup, party hat, etc.)
Class set gluesticks TIER 3
Class set of the Sort 2D and 3D Shapes
worksheet sphere: a round solid figure
Teacher copy of the Teach Background
rectangular prism: a solid shape which has six faces
Knowledge Template
that are rectangles
Teacher copy of the Write Student-Facing
Language Objectives Reference cone: a solid or hollow object which tapers from a
Teacher set of Vocabulary Cards circular base to a point
Teacher set of the Glossary
cube: a box-shaped solid object that has six identical
square faces

cylinder: a three-dimensional shape with two round

shapes at either end and two parallel lines connecting
the round ends

pyramid: structure with a square or triangular base

and sloping sides that meet in a point at the top

3D shapes: solid objects that have three dimensions

Attachments

Sort 2D and 3D Shapes (PDF)

Teach Background Knowledge Template (PDF)
Write Student-Facing Language Objectives Reference (PDF)
Vocabulary Cards: All About 3D Shapes (PDF)
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 Glossary: All About 3D Shapes (PDF)

Math language routine

Collect & Display

Introduction (2 minutes)

Gather the class together for the start of the lesson.

Ask students, "What are some shapes that you know?"
Invite students to share the names of common 2D shapes and record these on the board (include both a
visual and written name).
Reflect back to the students that these are all 2D or flat shapes.
Display the 3D items you collected to the class and ask them to turn and talk to a partner to share what
they see using the sentence starter, "I see ____."
Explain that while these might be everyday objects, they are also all 3D shapes. Tell the class that today
they will be learning all about 3D shapes.

Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling (5 minutes)

Explain to the students that there are two families of shapes. Two-dimensional or flat shapes like the
circle, square, triangle, or rectangle and 3D or solid shapes. Show students how to tell the different
between 2D and 3D shapes by deciding if they are flat or solid (model this by having a ball and a flat
circle side by side).
Using the everyday items you collected for this session, introduce each 3D shape (cylinder, globe,
pyramid, rectangular prism, cone) to the students using the following process.
Hold up the can of soup, say the shape name, "cylinder" and have the students repeat after you. Pass the
object around for students to hold, and describe the shape by its attributes. Refer to the Vocabulary
Cards for support when listing attributes.
Repeat with the remaining 3D shapes.

Guided Practice (8 minutes)

Display the sphere Vocabulary Card. Say, "This is a sphere. What do you think makes it special?"
Instruct students to turn and talk to an elbow partner to share what makes the sphere special using the
sentence starter, "A sphere is special because ____."
Create an anchor chart labeled, "3D Shapes" and make a column for "sphere", then ask pairs to share
their ideas with the group. Record student thinking on the chart paper. Ask clarifying questions to get
students thinking about everyday objects in the shape of a sphere. Capture student thinking on the
anchor chart.
As needed, use the sphere Vocabulary Card to identify any additional attributes of the sphere.
Repeat this process with the remaining shapes.

Group work time (15 minutes)

Explain that students will now get to practice sorting shapes into two groups, either 2D or 3D shapes.
Display the 2D or 3D shapes worksheet and go over the instructions.
Review any independent work procedures.
Pass out student materials and worksheets.

Additional EL adaptations

Beginning

Invite students to use their home language (L1) to describe shapes.

Work with students in a teacher-led small group to practice identifying 3D shapes by name using
additional songs or stories.

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Advanced

Ask students to go on a 3D shape hunt in the classroom. Have students record their items and name the
3D shapes they found. Create a classroom chart titled, "Real-World 3D Shapes" for reflection.

Assessment (5 minutes)

Circulate around the room and assess if students are able to accurately sort shapes into 2D and 3D
categories.
Collect student work samples and assess if students were able to sort shapes into the matching
categories. Take note of any misconceptions or areas of confusion.

Review and closing (5 minutes)

Gather the class back together for closing and reflection.

Display several everyday items that show 3D shapes. Ask students what shape they see using the
sentence starter, "I see a ____."

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 3-Dimensional Shapes
A 2-dimensional shape has height and width. A 3-dimensional shape has form and volume.
Can you tell the difference between the 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional shapes below?

cylinder rectangle cone triangle sphere circle cube square

2-Dimensional Shapes 3-Dimensional Shapes

Identify the difference in the 2-D and 3-D shapes below by coloring them in, cutting them out and sorting them.

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 Teach Background Knowledge
Lesson Topic:
Choose a topic from the main content
lesson that will help ELs understand the
main content lesson. Your non-ELs will
already have knowledge about this topic.

Total Lesson Time:

(20 - 30 minutes)

Student-Facing Language
Objective:
Example: I can learn new vocabulary
using pictures and sentence frames.

Student ELP Level(s):

Consider each student’s ELP level and
their academic strengths when choosing
scaffolds for the lesson.

Groupings (pairs, small-groups, a teacher-led group)

Potential Scaffolds: Word banks, word wall, and bilingual glossaries
Choose some of these material supports
Sentence frames, sentence stems, and paragraph frames
and instructional scaffolds based on each
EL’s individual strengths and needs. Home language materials
Reduced linguistic load, repetition, rephrasing and modeling
Practice new academic skills with familiar topics

Materials & Resources List

List the materials you’ll use in the lesson.

Key Vocabulary Words (5-8 words)

List the words with student-friendly
definitions in English. Provide
definitions in student’s home language
when appropriate.

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Introduction
Access EL’s prior knowledge about the
lesson topic with a brief comprehension
check.

Potential activities:
Creating captions for images
Opinionnaires
Carousel brainstorming
Conversations with sentence starters
Time estimate for Introduction
(3 - 5 minutes)

Explicit Instruction of
Background Knowledge
Model a learning activity that embeds
the teaching of academic language and
background knowledge.

Potential activities:
Lunch brunch discussion
Teacher-created, adjusted text and
questions
Brief videos or visuals
Text-based instruction
Home-language connections
Pre-teach a small number of
vocabulary words
Show real-world objects
Complete word family or bilingual
glossaries
Word walls or word bank creation

Time Estimate for Explicit Instruction

(4 - 6 minutes)

Guided Practice
Provide an opportunity for students (in
pairs or small groups) to practice the skill
or information taught during Explicit
Instruction, offering appropriate
scaffolds as needed.

Time Estimate for Guided Practice

(5 - 7 minutes)
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 Formative Assessment
Ask students to show comprehension of
new background knowledge and
associated skills through an oral or
written task. Provide appropriate
scaffolds dependent on their ELP level.

Potential assessments:
Act out concepts
Hands on tasks
Drawings, models, or graphs
Graphic organizer completion
Captions of images
Reading response or content
area logs
Retellings
Role plays
Audio or video recordings
Oral interviews

Time estimate for Assessment

(5 - 7 minutes)

Review and Closing

Refer to the student objective and relate
information to future lessons. Allow
students to share thoughts about
whether they reached their objective
and/or mention lingering questions.
Provide sentence stems or frames for their
discussion.

Time estimate for Review and Closing

(3 - 5 minutes)

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 Write Student-Facing Language Objectives
A student-facing language objective: A teacher-facing language objective:
begins with “I can...” begins with “Students will be able to...”
is designed to raise students' self-awareness of and is designed to raise students' self-awareness of and
promote their language development. promote their language development.
incorporates a language function, grammar structure, and incorporates a language function, grammar structure, and
supports or scaffolds. supports or scaffolds.
is easy to understand for students at all levels of is intended to guide the teacher’s lesson planning
English proficiency. and instruction.

Steps to convert a teacher-facing objective to a student-facing objective:

1. Replace “Students will be able to” with “I can.”
2. Simplify challenging words but maintain key vocabulary words you’ll address in the lesson.

Students will be able to describe a character with adjectives using graphic organizers.
Language Grammar Support/
Function Structure Scaffold

I can talk about a character with adjectives using graphic organizers.

Language Grammar Support/
Function Structure Scaffold

Language Functions Grammar Structures Supports/Scaffolds

locate create identify nouns adverbs graphic organizers sentence starters

show describe infer modals academic vocabulary teacher modeling strategic grouping
sort ask questions interpret verb forms adjectives word banks/walls home language supports
tell brainstorm collect conjunctions phrases
contrast classify compare sentence structure prepositions
pronouns complex sentences
comparatives
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 sphere rectangular
prism

a round solid figure solid shape which has

six faces that are rectangles

cone shape

a solid or hollow object

which tapers from a the outline of something
circular base to a point

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 cube cylinder

a three dimensional shape with

a box-shaped solid object that two round shapes at either end
has six identical square faces and two parallel lines
connecting the round ends

pyramid 3D shapes

structure with a square or

triangular base and sloping sides solid objects that
that meet in a point at the top have three dimensions

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 Word Definition Visual

sphere a round solid figure

solid shape which has six

rectangular prism faces that are rectangles

a solid or hollow object

cone which tapers from a
circular base to a point

shape the outline of something

a box-shaped solid object

cube that has six identical
square faces

a three dimensional shape

with two round shapes at
cylinder either end and two parallel
lines connecting the round ends

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 Word Definition Visual

structure with a square or

triangular base and sloping
pyramid sides that meet in a
point at the top

solid objects that

3D shapes have three dimensions

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