ELED 433 Math Methods

TITLE OF LESSON

Quadrilateral Sorting

CONTEXT OF LESSON
This lesson will come after the students study circles, angles, and triangles. It should be used
as an introduction to quadrilaterals.
LESSON CONCEPTS
This lesson will address quadrilaterals, including trapezoid, parallelogram, rhombus,
rectangle, and square, and their relationships with each other as a way to figure out which
type they are.
LESSON OBJECTIVES
1. The students will sort quadrilaterals into different categories based on characteristics
provided.
2. The students will separate out the five specific quadrilaterals from other types of
quadrilaterals.
ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING
1. To assess objective one, I will have each student, or group of students, record the sorts
they completed and have them discuss why they sorted it that way
2. To assess objective two, the students will glue the quadrilaterals in the categories they
belong to, and then draw another example.
RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING
5.13

The student, using plane figures (square, rectangle, triangle, parallelogram, rhombus, and
trapezoid), will
a) develop definitions of these plane figures;

MATERIALS NEEDED
Quadrilateral Pieces, cut out for each group and set for teacher. (attached)
Labels for sorting, cut out for each group and set for teacher. (attached, only tasks 1,
2, 3, and 5)
Mystery Rings worksheet, for students that finish sorting early. (attached)
Venn Diagrams for students to write their sorts. (attached)
Paper for students to glue their final sort. (attached)
Measurement tools in case the students want to measure sides or angles.
Glue and pencils
PROCEDURE
Before
These students have seen these shapes before but
may not know the names or characteristics. Before
the lesson, they will brainstorm the properties of
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Anticipated Student Responses

each shape.
In a PowerPoint each shape will be displayed with
its name and an example or two (separate slide for
each shape). The teacher will write on the SMART
Board what they say after giving them time to think
about it.
The teacher will ask what they know about
trapezoids. (Two examples on slide, one an
isosceles trapezoid, the other does not have
congruent legs).

Now there is a slide of a parallelogram. Again the

teacher asks what the students see and know.

Student 1: It looks like a triangle, but without the

top.
Teacher: Thats a good observation, anyone else se
anything?
Student 2: Only one of those is a trapezoid, I dont
know what the other is.
Teacher: Why would you say that?
Student 2: Because when we use the wooden
shapes, the trapezoids only look like that first one.
Teacher: Is there anything you can see that is
similar between the two? Maybe they look differen
but are still both trapezoids?
Student 3: No, they dont look alike at all!
Teacher: If I extent these lines, does that help you
see something?
Student 4: They look parallel.
Teacher: We will be able to look more into that
when we get into our activity to see if you are
correct. Are there any more observations?

Student 1: It looks kind of like a rectangle, but not

quite.
Teacher: Why do you say that?
Student 1: If you turned the sides a little bit, it
would be standing up just like a rectangle, so it
looks like someone pushed it over.
Teacher: Does anyone else see that? Is there
anything else you see?
Student 2: Are the sides parallel? It has parallel in
its name, so I think the sides may be parallel.
Teacher: Which sides would be parallel? They
cant all be parallel to each other or it wouldnt be
shape because the side would never touch.
Student 3: I think the sides are parallel to each
other, and the top and bottom to each other.
Teacher: (circles the pairs in different colors) Like
this?
Student 1: Thats a rectangle, it looks right now.
Teacher: What do you know about rectangles?

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Rectangles so up on the next slide. Teacher asks

again what the students can tell her about the shape.

Rhombus is shown on the board, with the same

question presented.

Student 2: The top and the bottom are congruent.

Teacher: Are those the only ones that are
congruent?
Student 3: No, the sides are congruent to each othe
too.
Teacher: What else do you know?
Student 4: The angles, they are all the same, they
are right angles.

Student 1: Isnt that a square?

Teacher: I dont know, do you think it is a square?
Student 2: No, it cant be a square, its not upright,
its like the parallelogram, and its pushed over.
Teacher: So what makes it like a square?
Student 3: All the sides are the same length.
Teacher: They all have congruent sides?
Student 3: Yes, thats what I said.
Teacher: Are the angles congruent?
Student 4: No, two of them are small, whats that
word? Aa something?
Student 5: Acute!
Student 4: Yeah, two of them are acute, and the
other two are obtuse.

Student 1: Thats a square!

Teacher: So what do you know about squares?
Student 2: All the sides are the same.
Teacher: Anything else?
Student 3: The angles are right angles, just like the
rectangle.
Square is the last slide. The questions remain the
same.
During
Give each student a set of shapes and have them
sort in groups of two or three The teacher sets the
first task up on the document camera and has the
students follow along with their pieces. When they
finish sorting, the teacher will have the students
write their answers on a Venn diagram provided.

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Teacher: We are going to sort these shapes togethe

Lets find shape number one. Does this shape hav
a right angle?
Student 1: No.
Teacher: How do you know?
Student 1: Because there is no box on the corner.
Teacher: Is that the only way to tell if it is a right
angle?
Student 2: No, you could measure them, but it
doesnt look like any of them are.
Teacher: Class, do you agree that this does not hav
a right angle? Who agrees? (raises hand) Who
disagrees? (Raises hand). Ok, we say there is no
3

right angle.
Continue with rest of shapes.
Teacher will then start the next sort on the
document camera. This is just to show them what
to do if the shape falls into both categories. Pick
number 11 to demonstrate.

Teacher: Ok, onto the next task. Lets start with

number 11. Which category does this fall?
Student 1: Well, it has an acute angle! It actually
has two of them.
Student 2: But the sides are all the same, I just
measured them!
Teacher: So what do you think we should do about
it?
Student 3: Well, can we put it in just one category?
It does have the quality of either one so it would fi
Teacher: But wont that be confusing? What if
Johnny puts it in this category, while Hannah puts
in the other one? Then everyones answers will be
different.
Student 4: What if we put it in the middle? That
means it falls into both at once.
Teacher: That is a good idea. What do you guys
think? Is this how we will deal with shapes that fal
into both categories?
Everyone: Yeah
Teacher lets students sort the rest of the shapes.

Students complete tasks 2, 3, and 5 in groups and

record answers on the Venn diagrams. Teacher
walks around asking students to defend their
answers. She talks with the groups about what kind
of shapes fall into each category based on what they
talked about at the beginning of the lesson. She is
trying to get the students to make connections with
what characteristics each shape has. If the students
have questions they can ask their neighboring
groups what they did, or ask the teacher. The last
task the students will complete is they sort the
shapes by their categories (Trapezoid,
parallelogram, rhombus, rectangle, square, and
quadrilateral). They will glue down their answers
on the sheet provided, so the teacher can see what
they came up with.
After
Teacher will lead a discussion in what they learned Teacher: Did you see anything similar between any
about the relationships of each shape. Focus on
of the shapes?
squares mainly, but if there is time, can talk about
Student 1: Rhombuses and squares both have
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how rectangles, rhombuses, and squares are all

parallelograms.

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congruent sides.
Student 2: Yeah, and rectangles and squares have
right angles.
Teacher: Squares are interesting, based on what we
said at the beginning of the class (flip back to
PowerPoint if need be) can a square be categorized
into a different shape?
Student 3: Well, it does have the congruent sides o
a rhombus, but not the obtuse and acute angles, so
it cant be that.
Student 4: It cant be a rectangle either, because it
doesnt have two pair of congruent sides, they are
all congruent, so no pairs.
Teacher: Lets look at the rhombus first. You said
cant be a rhombus because of the angles?
Student 3: Yeah, they are all right angles.
Teacher: A normal rhombus does have two obtuse
and two acute angles, but that is not actually part o
the definition. The definition only says it needs al
sides to be the same.
Student 5: Well then a square does have that, does
that mean a square is a rhombus?
Teacher: Yes, can you tell me why?
Student 5: Because both the rhombus and square
have all congruent sides.
Teacher: Very good. Now lets look at the
rectangle. Why did you say a square couldnt be a
rectangle?
Student 4: Because it doesnt have two pairs of
congruent sides.
Teacher: Which sides make the pair?
Student 6: The left and right sides are one, and the
top and bottom.
Teacher: Are the left and right sides congruent in a
square?
Students: yes.
Teacher: What about the top and bottom?
Students: Yes.
Teacher: And does a square have all four right
angles?
Students: Yes.
Teacher: Then does that mean its a rectangle?
Student 7: No, because the sides arent different
like in a rectangle.
Teacher: But didnt we just make the pairs of
congruent sides?
Student 7: Yes, but they arent different so it cant
be a rectangle.
5

Teacher: Just like with the rhombus, normally a

rectangle has different pairs of congruent sides, bu
a square is a special case. We will work on this
more tomorrow.
MODIFICATIONS FOR STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
CHALLENGE Problem: Student who finish early will be given the Mystery Rings
worksheet. They will need to come up with categories for each sort already given.
REMEDIAL Problem: For students who are struggling, remove the shapes that are not one of
the five we are focusing on. That would be shapes 2, 3, 5, 7, 15, and 16. They will also not
sort task 5, and after task 3 just move on to sorting into the specific categories.
Gavin, M. K., & Cuevas, G. J. (2001). Roping in quadrilaterals. In Navigating through geometry in
grades 3-5Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS ACTIVITY AND WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT?
1. A student might not understand one of the key words used in the labels. The student
will be allowed to ask the teacher or another student what it means. If I am asked, I
will give a synonym or short definition, and even point it out on a shape, to make sure
the student understands.
2. Technology-If the SMART Board or document camera breaks, I will do the before and
after discussions on the white board. The demonstration of sorting will be done with
the students sorting at their desk (as was originally planned) and the teacher will just
be discussing where to place the pieces, walking around to make sure each group
understands.
3. Time- If there is not enough time, task 5 will be taken out. Also, the after discussion
can be moved to the next day for further in depth discussion.
4. If an emergency drill happens, we will follow the indicated emergency plan. After it
is over, I will assess how much time we have left for the lesson and what to do,
following number 3 if necessary.

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Data Collection Sheet:

Name:

Student sorted the

quadrilaterals under the
correct labels. (yes/no)

Student could defend

groupings of shapes.
Anything interesting they
said?

How many did they

group correctly in the
final sort? Were they able
to draw another
example?

Student 1
Student 2
Student 3
Student 4
Student 5
Student 6
Student 7
Student 8
Student 9
Student 10
Student 11
Student 12
Student 13
Student 14
Student 15
Student 16
Student 17
Student 18
Student 19
Student 20
Student 21
Student 22

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Directions: Write the number of the quadrilateral in the Venn diagram where it belongs.
At least one right angle

All sides the same length

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No right angles

At least one acute angle

Directions: Write the number of the quadrilateral in the Venn diagram where it belongs.
At least one set of parallel sides

All sides the same length

At least one obtuse angle

At least one obtuse angle

At least one right angle

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Final Sort: Glue the shapes into the categories they belong to. When done, draw another example of each
quadrilateral.

Trapezoids:

Parallelograms:

Rhombuses:

Rectangles:

Squares:

Quadrilaterals:

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10

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11

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12

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13