VAN HIELE MOSAIC PUZZLE ACTIVITIES GRADE 1 Through these activities we expect children to develop: Confidence in recognising, identifying and describing 2-D shapes (the focus of the activities is on triangles and rectangles) An increased awareness of the properties of and relationships between the sides and angles of 2-D shapes For these activities you will need: Van Hiele mosaic puzzle one puzzle for each child A4 unlined paper and crayons Van Hiele Activity cards 1 6 one set for every 6 children NumberSense Companion Teacher Guide 1
Activity 1: Making a picture with Van Hiele Mozaic pieces GRADE 1 Each child should have a Van Hiele Mozaic puzzle, a piece of paper and a pencil or crayon. Part 1 Ask the children what different pictures they can make using the pieces? Give the children ample opportunity for to play freely, showing their friends what they have made. Use this opportunity to observe how children use the pieces and to assess (informally) how they think and talk about the shapes. Part 2 Give each child a piece of unlined A4 paper. Ask the children to use the pieces to make a picture on the paper. Ask the children to carefully trace around the outside of their picture on the paper. They should write their name on their picture. This can be repeated several times. What to expect from the children: As you observe children you should notice how children become aware of the lengths of the sides of the shapes as they join pieces together to create aesthetically pleasing pictures, Similarly they may also develop awareness of the angles of shapes as they join pieces to meet at a point or so. Children should be able to talk about the triangles and the rectangle. They may also notice that pieces 1, 2 and 5 (or 6) are all triangles even though they are different. Children should be able to talk about the square and the triangles. We expect them to recognise the square as a square irrespective of its orientation in a picture i.e. just because the square has been rotated and its sides are not parallel and perpendicular to the horizon, the square is still a square. Teachers may talk about piece 4 as a quadrilateral or a trapezium and piece 7 as a quadrilateral so that children hear the vocabulary, but it is not expected that they use this terminology yet. NumberSense Companion Teacher Guide 2
Activity 2: Van Hiele Activity cards GRADE 1 Each pair of children should have a Van Hiele Mozaic puzzle and one of the Van Hiele Activity Cards. Ask children to use their place their pieces on the card. Children work in pairs so that they have to have a discussion about the shapes and what they are doing to the shapes to make them fit. Use this opportunity to observe how children use the pieces and to assess informally how they think and talk about the shapes. This can be repeated several times so that each pair of children completes each of the Activity cards. What to expect from the children: Children may start to notice that some pieces will fit either side up but other pieces will only fit one way up. Children also start to focus on matching sides that are equal in length and angles that are equal in size. NumberSense Companion Teacher Guide 3
Van Hiele Activity Card 1 Place your pieces to fit the shapes. Van Hiele Activity Card 2 Place your pieces to fit the shapes.
Van Hiele Activity Card 3 Place your pieces to fit the shapes. Van Hiele Activity Card 4 Place your pieces to fit the shapes.
Van Hiele Activity Card 5 Make the shapes. Van Hiele Activity Card 6 Make the houses.
VAN HIELE MOSAIC PUZZLE ACTIVITIES GRADE 2 Through these activities we expect children to develop: Confidence in recognising, identifying and describing 2-D shapes (the focus of the activities is on triangles and rectangles) An increased awareness of the properties of and relationships between the sides and angles of 2-D shapes For these activities you will need: Van Hiele mosaic puzzle one puzzle for each child A4 unlined paper and crayons Van Hiele Activity cards 3 12 one set for every 6 children NumberSense Companion Teacher Guide 1
Activity 1: Van Hiele Activity cards 3 6 GRADE 2 Each pair of children should have a Van Hiele Mozaic puzzle and one of the Van Hiele Activity Cards. Ask children to use their place their pieces on the card. Children work in pairs so that they have to have a discussion about the shapes and what they are doing to the shapes to make them fit. Use this opportunity to observe how children use the pieces and to assess informally how they think and talk about the shapes. This can be repeated several times so that each pair of children completes each of the Activity cards. What to expect from the children: Children may start to notice that some pieces will fit either side up but other pieces will only fit one way up. Children also start to focus on matching sides that are equal in length and angles that are equal in size. NumberSense Companion Teacher Guide 2
Activity 2: Van Hiele Activity cards 7 12 GRADE 2 Each pair of children should have a Van Hiele mozaic puzzle, one of the Van Hiele Activity Cards 7 12 and a few blank pieces of paper or unlined exercise book. Ask children to use their pieces to complete the activity on their card. Children work in pairs so that they may have a discussion about the shapes and what they are doing to the shapes. To record their solutions, children should trace around a piece and then draw how they made it with the other pieces. Use this opportunity to observe how children use the pieces and to assess informally how they think and talk about the shapes. Questions that can be posed as the children are working are: Can you do it another way? Which pieces can be used upside down or right-side up? What is the same and what is different between sets of shapes? This can be repeated several times so that each pair of children completes each of the Activity cards. NumberSense Companion Teacher Guide 3
GRADE 2 What to expect from the children: Children should be focusing on matching sides that are equal in length and angles that are use words parallelogram, equilateral triangle, isosceles triangle etc. The teacher may use these words as necessary. Possible solutions to activity cards: Van Hiele Activity card 7 Van Hiele Activity card 8 Van Hiele Activity card 9 NumberSense Companion Teacher Guide 4
GRADE 2 Van Hiele Activity card 10 Pieces 1 and 2: Only one shape. Note that all of these shapes are the same. Pieces 1 and 3: Two shapes Pieces 1 and 4: Three shapes Pieces 1 and 5: Three shapes NumberSense Companion Teacher Guide 5
GRADE 2 Pieces 1 and 7: Five shapes Van Hiele Activity card 11 Van Hiele Activity card 12 NumberSense Companion Teacher Guide 6
Van Hiele Activity Card 7 Join pieces 5 and 6 to make the shapes. Van Hiele Activity Card 8 Join pieces 1 and 7 to make the shapes.
Van Hiele Activity Card 9 Join pieces 1 and 7 to make the shapes. Van Hiele Activity Card 10 For each of the following, trace around the shape on a piece of paper to show your answers. 1. How many different shapes can you make by joining piece 1 and piece 2? 2. How many different shapes can you make by joining piece 1 and piece 3? 3. How many different shapes can you make by joining piece 1 and piece 4? 4. How many different shapes can you make by joining piece 1 and piece 5? 5. How many different shapes can you make by joining piece 1 and piece 7?
Van Hiele Activity Card 11 Join pieces 1, 4 and 5 to make the shapes. Van Hiele Activity Card 12 Join pieces 3, 5 and 6 to make the shapes.