The Greedy Triangle

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The Greedy Triangle
Written by Marilyn Burns
Mrs. Campbell First Grade
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Materials

• The book The Greedy Triangle

• Crayons

• Shape Book

• Pencils

• Geoboard

• Smartboard

• Whiteboard

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Introduction
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?
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Before Reading
Sides- Sides are the outside lines of a shape.
Corner- a corner is where the sides of the lines
meet.

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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.
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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.
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During Reading
3
3
Triangle
Quadrilateral
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4
Pentagon
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5
6
Hexagon
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CLICK
Lets have some fun reviewing our shapes.
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After Reading
Geoboard Fun!
What is the lesson the triangle learned? What
is the lesson you learned?
Lets have some fun watching a video about shapes
and sizes.
CLICK
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Beyond Reading
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!
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Evaluation
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Credits
Marilyn Burns
Text
Burns, M. (1994). The Greedy Triangle. New York
Scholastic.
Other Marilyn Burns Books

• Spaghetti and Meatballs for All

• Amanda Beans Amazing Dream

• Cats Add Up!

Wonderful Article Written By Marilyn Burns
Connecting Writing and Math
http//www.mathsolutions.com/documents/2004_Writin
g_in_Math.pdf
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Teacher Page
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.