Last week, I wrapped up my unit on shapes.  More specifically, shape hierarchy.  My kids had a good basis for shapes and terminology such as opposite angles and parallel lines but couldn’t connect how some shapes could be classified in more than one category.  I mean, is it just me, or is this a difficult concept to understand?  Tell me I’m not alone!

I decided that the easiest way to make the connection for them would be to use “clubs”.  It was something that was easily relatable to them.

I told them that around the room were five clubs.  Each club has very specific requirements.  I gave them an envelope (each printed on color coded paper) with multiple copies of various shapes.  It was their job to place their team’s shapes into the envelopes at each station.  If they do it correctly, they will use all of the shapes and will not have any duplicates in any one club.

At each station, they were instructed to place any shapes that they believe fits the criteria of the club in their team’s envelope.  Then, they would record the shapes on their recording page.

I loved hearing things like, “The square has been in EVERY club!” or “Is the square really the ONLY one that fits here?”  The conversations among each group were fabulous.

I found this anchor chart through Pinterest on Lena’s Leader’s blog and it inspired me to use the “club”theme for this activity.  As a class, we later worked to create our own anchor chart that looks similar.  However, her anchor chart is SO MUCH better than mine.  I hate my own handwriting.  It’s an annoying OCD thing.

If you would like to grab the printable for this activity, click the image above!