3rd Grade · Math · 3.G.A.1, 4.G.A.1

Geometry Lesson Plan for 3rd Grade

A ready-to-teach geometry lesson for 3rd Grade, built around sorting quadrilaterals and polygons, angles, area and perimeter of rectangles, and lines of symmetry. Print the plan, print the practice pages, and you are set.

Approximately 45 minutes

Learning objective

Identify and name quadrilaterals including squares and rectangles
Classify four-sided shapes by their visual properties
Distinguish quadrilaterals from other polygons by sides

Materials

Identifying quadrilaterals
Properties of quadrilaterals
Parallelograms
Triangles
Circles
Polygons
Pencils, and whiteboard space for the modeled examples

Lesson steps

1. Warm up together (5 min)
Ask students to find geometry in the room before you define anything. Geometry is the one strand where the examples are already on the walls.
2. Model it (I do) (10 min)
Draw and label two examples of geometry, then a non-example. The non-example does more teaching than the two correct ones combined.
3. Practice together (we do) (10 min)
Work three more problems as a class. Ask a different student to supply each step rather than the whole answer. If a step stalls, drop back to concrete objects or a drawing before moving on.
4. Independent practice (you do) (15 min)
Hand out "Identifying quadrilaterals". Students work independently while you circulate. Note who is fluent, who is counting on fingers, and who has not started, because that grouping drives tomorrow's small group.
5. Close the loop (5 min)
Pull the class back. Ask one student to explain a problem they got right and one to name something that is still confusing. End on the confusion, not the success, so students learn that naming a gap is normal.

Check for understanding

Collect the practice pages and sort them into three piles: fluent, developing, and not yet. Any student in the third pile needs geometry retaught in a small group before the class moves on.

Differentiation

Extra support. Students who stall: pull them into a small group and rebuild geometry with concrete materials or a simpler text before asking for the written work again. Do not send the page home as homework, it will just rehearse the misunderstanding.

Extension. Students who finish early: ask them to write their own geometry problem for a partner to solve, then check the partner's work. Creating a problem is harder than solving one and it surfaces whether they really understand geometry.

Skills covered in this lesson

Identifying quadrilaterals · Properties of quadrilaterals · Parallelograms · Triangles · Circles · Polygons · Types of polygons · Lines, segments and rays · Right angles · Parallel and perpendicular lines · Classify angles · Measure angles

Questions teachers ask about teaching geometry

What geometry do 3rd graders learn?

3rd graders sort shapes by their attributes and see that squares, rectangles and rhombuses are all quadrilaterals (CCSS 3.G.A.1). They find area by counting unit squares and by multiplying length and width (3.MD.C.7) and find the perimeter of rectangles and irregular shapes (3.MD.D.8). These pages also cover angles, polygons and symmetry.

What is a line of symmetry?

A line of symmetry is a line that folds a figure into two halves that match exactly. On Draw Every Line of Symmetry, a square has 4 lines, a rectangle that is not a square has 2, a regular hexagon has 6 and a parallelogram that is not a rectangle has none. Lines of symmetry are named in CCSS 4.G.A.3, so these pages give 3rd graders an early start.

Do these 3rd grade geometry worksheets have answer keys?

Yes. All 30 sheets have an answer key, including the area, perimeter and symmetry pages.