Here are the 3D Shapes That I Know

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SWBAT identify 3D shapes and describe them using key attributes.

Big Idea

Students review solid shape names from Kindergarten while also learning the language to explain their key attributes.

Setting Up the Learning

10 minutes


You learned about 3D shapes in Kindergarten! Let's play a song to help us review the shapes you learned.

This song is tried and true! Every kid loves it. Link: Harry Kindergarten 3D Shapes song


We need to know the academic vocabulary we use to describe solid shapes so that we can be precise tomorrow when we describe how we create shapes out of these solid shapes.


Your thinking job is: What do I call these 3D shapes and what do I know about these shapes?

Opening Discussion

15 minutes

All of these shapes should be a review from Kindergarten, so we are mostly just reviewing the academic language needed to describe them. This is aligned to MP6, Attend to precision, which asks students to use precise language to describe mathematics, as well as the CCSS shift towards academic vocabulary.

Present task: First, I’ll hold up a square and a cube.

  • Partner talk: Are these both squares? How are you sure?

  • Whole group question: How are these the same? How are they different?

  • Let’s think of some rules to prove this is a cube: What shape are the faces? How many faces? How many vertices?

I'll follow the same routine with the sphere and the rectangular prism. After each shape, I’ll add the shape name and picture to our 3D anchor chart (attached!).

Student Share

15 minutes

I'll present the triangular prism, cone, and cylinder to students one at a time. After each shape, students will partner talk about the shapes and discuss what they notice about the shapes' faces, vertices, edges and what it looks like in the real world.  

Guiding Questions:

  • What do you notice about this shape?

  • What rules could you write to describe this shape?

  • How is this shape different from the other shapes we have looked at?

Record findings on class chart.

Independent Practice

15 minutes

Students make a flap book and practice identifying the shapes and describing the shape features in writing!

For my class, I chose to give them 2 flap books stapled together so they had 6 flaps. You can also opt to have students practice 3 of the shapes. 


1. Cut down the lines.

2. Students draw a card from the center pile. I got all of my 3D shape cards free from Mrs. Ricca's Kindergarten blog. You can get the cards here! I cut out a variety of cards and had them in the envelope in the middle of each table group.

3. Students decide what shape it is and write the shape name on the top flap.

4. After students glue down all of the shapes and write the shape names, they add features on the front flap to describe their shape. 

See attached document for the flap book master!


5 minutes

Students share their flap books with each other and practice using academic vocabulary, a key focus of Common Core!

See attached Student Work Share video of one student sharing her work with me!