Composite shapes from three angles. Students match letter-bank recipes such as 'A. 1 triangle and 1 square' to composite pictures that include a house, count the triangles, rectangles and squares inside a rocket ship diagram, then answer two multiple-choice questions about what appears when you join 2 equal squares, and what 2 half-circles make when placed flat side to flat side.
1.G.2
“Compose two-dimensional shapes (rectangles, squares, trapezoids, triangles, half-circles, and quarter-circles) or three-dimensional shapes (cubes, right rectangular prisms, right circular cones, and right circular cylinders) to create a composite shape, and compose new shapes from the composite shape.”
Every task composes or decomposes shapes from the standard's own list: triangles, squares, half-circles and quarter-circles all appear.
A letter bank lists shape recipes: A pairs 1 triangle with 1 square, B pairs 1 triangle with 1 half-circle, C uses 2 triangles. Students write the letter under each picture; the house takes A.
A rocket ship built from shapes, with a triangle point and a tall rectangle body. Questions 5 to 7 ask how many triangles, rectangles and squares it took to build.
Question 8 asks which two shapes sit side by side to make a rectangle (2 equal squares), and question 9 asks what 2 half-circles make when joined flat side to flat side (a circle).
Pattern blocks first
Build the house from a square and a triangle on the document camera before handing out the sheet. The matching then confirms rather than introduces.
Rocket recount
Students often miss the small squares in the rocket. Have them color each shape type a different color before counting.
Quick plenary
End the lesson on question 9. Holding up two paper half-circles and rotating them together settles any debate in seconds.
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