This activity incorporates balance and movement along with many different mathematical concepts.
One of each color (red, green, blue, yellow):
Incorporate balance and movement along with many different mathematical concepts with Shape Stretch. As it is written in this lesson, this activity is only used for addition and subtraction. Shape Stretch should be used in small groups (five to six) so all children can have an adequate number of turns.
Note: Felt fabric works best to create Shape Stretch shapes. Attach Velcro to the back. Construction paper works also. Do not laminate as pieces will become too slippery and Velcro will not attach to lamination.
4. Develop physical skills and personal hygiene.
5. Understand and use basic concepts and skills.
Invitation to Learn
Ask students if they have played Twister. Ask students to tell you
about the game and how you win or loose. Explain that Shape Stretch is
much the same as Twister, but the rules are a little different.
Instructional Procedures
Modifications may be necessary for students with disabilities. For example, they may not be able to use their feet, but they can use their hands, or vise versa. Also because of physical limitations students may only be able to be spinners or dice rollers. A fun way for these students to play is to have them roll the dice or spin the spinner, but then they get to choose a player of their choice to put their hand or foot on the correct shape.
Extensions for this activity could be designed in the way that it is played. For example, the rules can be modified for higher-level learners because they write and/or solve story problems instead of rolling dice. They may also graph the results of the spinner to help predict probability.
Extensions for this activity for lower level learners may be done by using one die so students are working on number recognition and one to one correspondence. It may also be played with no dice and students work on shape or color recognition.
Integration into language arts can occur by having students write story problems to be used instead of dice, or use number word cards, color word cards, or shape word cards to help with sight word recognition.
Family Connections
This is a great activity for students to make in class and then take
home to share with their families. Use this activity throughout the year
with families to reinforce different math concepts students are learning in
school.
Observation of how students interact during this activity serves as a great assessment.