The Greedy Triangle
Written by Marilyn Burns
Mrs. Campbell First Grade
•
The book The Greedy Triangle
•
Crayons
•
Shape Book
• Pencils
• Geoboard
• Smartboard
• Whiteboard
This story is about a Triangle who wants to be
more than just a Triangle. It believes that more
angles and corners will make life better. So the
Triangle visits the character the Shapeshifter.
The Shapeshifter changes the Triangle into many
different shapes.
Do you think some shapes are better than others
and why?
How will the Shapeshifter change the Triangle
into different shapes?
What shapes do you think the Triangle will turn
into?
Sides- Sides are the outside lines of a shape.
- a corner is where the sides of the lines meet.
Vocabulary
The next set of vocabulary words I will introduce
are quadrilateral, pentagon, and hexagon.
Quadrilateral
A quadrilateral has four sides and four corners. A
baseball diamond is the shape of a quadrilateral.
Pentagon
A pentagon has five sides and five corners. A
soccer ball is made up of tiny pentagon shapes.
Hexagon
A hexagon has six sides and six corners. A
Bee hive cell is the shape of a hexagon.
Vocabulary
Heptagon
A hexagon is a seven sided shape with seven
corners. A flower can be in the shape of a
hexagon.
Octagon
An octagon is an eight sided shape with eight
corners. A stop sign is the shape of an
octagon.
Nonagon
A nonagon is a nine sided shape with nine
corners. The top of a building can be in the
shape of a nonagon.
Decagon
A decagon is a ten sided shape with ten
corners. A mirror can be in the shape of a
decagon.
Name of the shape
Picture of the
shape
Number of sides
Number of corners
3
3
Quadrilateral
4
4
Pentagon
5
5
Hexagon
6
6
Triangle
Let’s have some fun reviewing our shapes.
CLICK
Geoboard Fun!
What is the lesson the triangle learned?
What is the lesson you learned?
Let’s have some fun watching a video about shapes and sizes. CLICK
You are going to become a shape detective. Your new assignment is to go
home and cut out five pictures of different shapes from magazines,
newspapers, food boxes and construction paper. You will bring the pictures
to school and create your very own shape book. Have fun being a shape
detective!
Points
3
2
1
Before Reading
Student will
participate in
brainstorming,
making
predictions,
drawing the
shapes, and listen
carefully to the
new vocabulary.
Student will
partially
participate in
brainstorming,
making
predictions,
drawing the
shapes, and listen
to the new
vocabulary.
Student will not
brainstorm, make
predictions, draw
the shapes and
listen to the new
vocabulary.
During Reading
Listens carefully
to the story and
participates in
writing the
numbers on their
white board.
Partially listens to
the story and
write some of the
numbers on their
whiteboard.
Will not listen and
write any of the
numbers on the
whiteboard.
After Reading
Creates all five
shapes on their
geoboard.
Creates three
shapes on their
geoboard.
Creates two or
less shapes on
their geoboard.
Beyond Reading
Create a shape
book with five
pictures and label
all of the
pictures.
Create a shape
book with three
pictures and label
the pictures.
Create a shape
book with two or
less shapes and
label the pictures.
Total
Text
Marilyn Burns
Burns, M. (1994). The Greedy Triangle. New York: Scholastic.
Other Marilyn Burns Books
Spaghetti and Meatballs for All
Amanda Bean’s Amazing Dream
Cats Add Up!
Wonderful Article Written By Marilyn Burns: Connecting Writing and Math
http://www.mathsolutions.com/documents/
2004_Writing_in_Math.pdf
My school does not have computer time for first graders however, there
is a portable smartboard. I will be using the smartboard to teach this
cyber lesson in a whole group setting over the course of a week.
Cyber Lesson- Slide 4: I will have the students brainstorm a list of familiar geometric shapes on the
smartboard. Then I will have the students draw pictures of the shapes they predict the triangle will turn
into on their own whiteboards. Next I will introduce vocabulary words that the students will hear
throughout the story.
Cyber Lesson- Slide 4: Then after I introduce these vocabulary words I will have the
students find an object in the classroom that is a triangle. Then I will ask the students to
point to the sides and angles of the object.
Cyber Lesson- Slide 6: To not overwhelm the students with challenging
vocabulary I will address new words when they are mentioned in the story.
Cyber Lesson- Slide 7: While reading the book The Greedy Triangle I will stop periodically to have the students
predict how many sides and angles each new shape will have. Then they will record their answers on their own
whiteboard. Lastly, I will confirm their predictions on the smartboard by having the correct answer appear on my
chart.
Cyber Lesson- Slide 8: When I finish reading the story the students will return to their seats and get a geoboard.
They will be creating the different shapes from the story The Greedy Triangle. They will be making the same
shapes as Mrs. Campbell makes on her geoboard. To check their work I will encourage the students to count the
sides and angles of their shapes. The students will be making these shapes: triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, and
hexagon.
Cyber Lesson- Slide 8: When the students have finished making all of the shapes I will redirect their
attention towards the theme of being greedy. I will remind them that a three sided shape is just as
important as a shape with more than three sides.