It’s Hip to be a Square!

Huey Lewis and The News is still awesome (and Rock N’ Roll Never Forgets!).

Also, there is this K-pop/R&B song I really like called “Angel” by Yoon Mi-rae. It’s a catchy song that has appeal to a variety of audiences. I urge you to listen to the song, you may like it. 😉

I told you that to tell you this:

You’re my A-N-G-L-E!

In math, my class started learning basic geometry: lines, rays, and…angles. These are pretty easy concepts to teach to fourth graders, and easily relatable to daily life. Here is a handy video made by the MathAntics YouTube page. The video gives a basic introduction to points, lines, planes, and angles.

After introducing each concept and working through a few exercises, I asked my students to find real-world examples of kinds of angles (right, acute, obtuse, and straight angles). Each student was able to find at least three examples of each kind of angle they can see in the world around them!

They saw that arrow heads form acute angles, the rooftops of apartments may form obtuse or acute angles, and desk (as well as paper, card) and other sharp corners form right angles.

What kinds of examples can you find?

When it came to lines, line segments, and rays, here is a video by Shmoop from YouTube.

Triangles, circles, polygons, OH MY!

Geometry also teaches students about shapes. Shapes are everywhere!. This is a fun aspect of geometry and children can learn to see different shapes in the things around them. One video I have always loved is this video from Sesame Street. It’s old, but classic!

The lyrics this song not only teach children about shapes, they also convey a message about getting along with others regardless of differences!

Here are the lyrics to the second verse:

When I go to the playground
And a triangle says “How do you do”
Then comes in a circle
And a rectangle shows up too
Well I play with the triangle
And the circle can join the game
I play with the rectangle
Who cares that we’re not all the same