Parent Guide

Identifying and describe the properties of

2D and 3D shapes

Chapter 1 The

Expectations

2 Contents

Contents

Chapter 2 Common Problems

Chapter 3 Asking

questions

Chapter 4 Creative

Maths

Chapter 5 Motivating

your child

Chapter 6

Resources

3 10 11 13

15 17

The Expectations

End of Year Expectations

3 The Expectations

The expectations are that your child should be able to identify and describe the following shapes:

2D Shapes are flat shapes

CircleSquare

RectangleTriangle

PentagonHexagonOctagon

3D Shapes are solid shapes

CylinderCone

SphereCube

CuboidPyramid

The Expectations

4 The Expectations

Parts of a 2D shape

corner

They will need to be able to describe the shapes they see, in terms of how many corners and sides it has and if the sides are straight or curved.

Straight side

The Expectations

5 The Expectations

Square

It has 4 straight sides

Each straight side is the same

length

It has 4 corners

Rectangle

It has 4 straight sides

It has 2 long sides and 2 short sides

It has 4 corners

Triangle

It has three sides and

three corners

Pentagon

It has 5 straight sides

It has 5 corners

It can come in a variety of forms

Hexagon

It has 6 straight sides

It has 6 corners

It can come in a variety of forms

Circle

It has one curved side

Octagon

It has 8 straight sides and 8 corners

It can come in a variety of forms

Star

It has points coming out of

the centre

Describing 2D Shapes

The Expectations

6 The Expectations

Variety of forms

Remember, 2D shapes are identified by how many sides they have. The way they look can vary.

All triangles

All hexagons

All octagons

The Expectations

7 The Expectations

Parts of a 3D shape

corner

edge

face

They will need to be able to describe 3D shapes in terms of how many; faces, edges and corners it has.

The Expectations

8 The Expectations

Cube

It has 6 square faces all the same

size.

It also has 8 corners and 12 edges.

Square based

pyramid

It has 1 square face and 4

triangular faces Cylinder

It has 3 faces (2 flat and 1

curved), 2 edges and no corners.

Cuboid

It has 6 rectangular

faces.

Sphere

It has only onecurved face

Cone

It has a circle as its base, a

curvedface and a point.

Describing 3D Shapes

The Expectations

9 The Expectations

Understanding the Vocabulary

Vocabulary Definition

Flat A flat object has a level surface with no ups or downs.

Curved A line that is not straight or an object that is not flat.

Side A line in a 2D shape is called a side.

Straight A line or edge which has no curves is straight.

Corner Two or more edges or sides meet at a corner.

Face A face is a flat surface on a 3D shape. A pyramid has 5 faces.

Edge An edge is where 2 faces meet in a 3D shape.

Solid A solid shape has no space inside it.

Point A sharp part of a shape is a point. A pyramid is pointed at the top.

Common Problems

Common Problems

10 Common Problems

As your child works understanding 2D and 3D shapes, they may encounter a few common problems: • Mixing up the names of 2D and 3D shapes.

• Not understanding that 2D shapes are flat and 3D shapes are solid.

• Seeing a net of a 3D shape in a picture and naming it as a 2D shape.

• Not understanding the vocabulary correctly and mixing up corners and edges.

• Not fully understanding what the properties of the 3D shapes mean when describing them.

Asking questions

What is the name of a three sided

shape?

11 Asking questions

How many corners does a hexagon have?

How many sides does a circle

have?

What is the difference between a circle and a sphere?Explain what a pyramid is

Questions enable you and your child to find out what they know and can guide you to identifying their next

steps

How many squares can you see in this room? How many edges does a

cube have? Name another shape with the same

amount.Show me a

cylinder/cone/cube/cuboid/pyramid

Asking Questions

12 Asking questions

Ask these, when your child STARTS their work

How are you going to tackle this problem?What information do you have?What do you need to find out?What operations are you going to use (e.g. adding, taking away)?

Ask these, if your child gets STUCK:

Tell me what the problem isCan you talk me through what you have done so far?What did you do last time? What have you done different this time?What about putting things in orderWhy not make a guess and check if it works?Maybe a table, graph or picture might help?

Ask these, WHILST your child is working on a problem:

Talk me through what you have done so farWhy did you use that method?What did you mean here?Are you beginning to see a pattern or rule?Do you think this would work with other numbers?

Ask these, when your child has FINISHED:

How did you get your answer?Can you describe the method you used?What could you try next?How did you check it?What have you learned today that you didn’t know before?Did you use any new words, from your word bank today?

1

3 4

2

Creative Maths

13 Creative Maths

Name my shape

Pretend to be a shape – only giving your child clues as to what you are. They then have to guess, based on your description.

Feely bag

This is a great game and one used in the classroom each time shape in Year

1 is taught.

Find some 3D (or 2D) objects in the house. Put them into a coloured bag – so that you can’t see inside. Then ask your child to put their hand inside the bag and describe what they can feel.

Does it have any flat sides?Does it have any curved sides?

What is it?

Who am I?

Act out the shapes with your child . . . Have fun being a circle and rolling around

the floor.

Or pretending to be a square and linking arms and legs together on the floor and

taking a picture.

These lively games link directly to this objective and are designed to improve your child’s maths in a fun and exciting

way. For more ideas visit our Pinterest Board.

Creative Maths

14 Creative Maths

Shape Hunt

Children love being detectives. Go on a shape hunt around the house, spotting all

the shapes you can see.

A work of art

When you go on your ‘shape hunt’ – why not make a large collage of the

items you found.

Simply draw around them, cut them out and then create a collage.

Or build a 3D work of art.

Let your child play with the objects, understanding the properties of the

shapes by feeling them and describing them to you.

Make Note

Why not record all the shapes you see on a table, or Venn diagram (see attached)?

Shape and data handling link together beautifully.

Motivating your child

15 Motivating your child

I can . . . Monday TuesdayWednesda

yThursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Spell new words from the word bank

Say what the new maths words mean

Answer questions on my worksheet correctly

Talk about my learning

Answer the practice questions correctly

To succeed – it is better to do a task little and often - quick thinking and rapid feedback. Aim for 5-10 minutes, 3 – 4 times a week.

For more motivational ideas, visit our Pinterest Board.

I can . . . Monday TuesdayWednesda

yThursday Friday Saturday Sunday

16 Motivating your child

Resources

WHAT EQUIPMENT DOES YOUR CHILD NEED?

17 Resources

Checklist:

- Pencils, sharpener and eraser.

- Wide spaced, good quality lined exercise book, so that you can see the progress your child is making and make notes on areas they need to learn and practise.

- A quiet, well lit area to work in without distractions.

- If your child still needs a little extra help, please click here

Resources

18 Resources

I CAN . . .

19 Resources

Venn Diagram