TANGRAMS ACROSS THE CURRICULUM

A Tale Told with Tangrams Grandfather Tang’s Story A Tale Told with Tangrams Written by Ann Tompert Illustrated by Robert Andrew Parker Knopf Books for Young Readers 1990 A good lesson starts with a story. This is a way to engage the students at all learning levels across the curriculum. Appropriate for grades 3 &4, this is the story of a grandfather telling a folktale to his granddaughter about two foxes who try to one-up each other by transforming themselves into a more powerful form until something threatens them and reminds them of their friendship. The engaging watercolor illustrations are enhanced by the companion tangram illustrations depicting the foxes’ current transformation. Tangrams are Chinese puzzles cut from a single square into 7 distinct pieces called “tans”. The tans are used to construct an image with all 7 pieces touching without overlapping. Students can follow along with the teacher’s read aloud by predicting the next animal form the fox will take as he tries to out-do his friend, as well as trying to construct the tangram themselves.

NCTM standards When lessons are designed by working “backward” from the standard, the lesson objectives and assessment is clear and measureable. Understanding by Design Grades 3–5 Expectations: In grades 3–5 all students should– identify, compare, and analyze attributes of two- and three-dimensional shapes and develop vocabulary to describe the attributes; classify two- and three-dimensional shapes according to their properties and develop definitions of classes of shapes such as triangles and pyramids; investigate, describe, and reason about the results of subdividing, combining, and transforming shapes; explore congruence and similarity; make and test conjectures about geometric properties and relationships and develop logical arguments to justify conclusions.

English Language Arts Standards ELA standards addressed in these lessons are: Language Strand – vocabulary development, listening & questioning skills Reading/Literature Strand – understanding text, making connections, identifying theme Writing Strand – organizing ideas in writing, using standard English conventions in writing, revising & editing.

Connecting Geometry the isosceles right triangle the square The seven tans are made up of a combination of 3 distinct shapes the isosceles right triangle the square the parallelogram. Students can learn the characteristics of these three shapes through making tangrams. The steps involved in creating their own set of tans covers math vocabulary and concepts like congruency, right angles, vertex, vertices, parallel lines, acute angles, isosceles triangle, square, trapezoid. . Students who are actively engaged in hands-on learning are more likely to retain the information, and those students whose learning styles are largely visual or kinesthetic will also benefit from these exercises.

Connecting Fractions When making a set of tans, the students will gain experience with the concept of fractions (parts of a whole) and how to attribute a fractional value to each tan.

Connecting Reading Comprehension Students will be able to listen to the story read aloud to the class, giving the teacher an opportunity to address the concept of prediction as well as work on sequencing and comprehension. Students will benefit from working with the tans as the story unfolds, giving an added level of understanding to the text.

& Writing Connecting Reading Students can work on using standard English conventions such as writing, revising and editing by introducing new characters and tangrams to the story. Students can explore the genre of folktales. & Writing Students can participate in collaborative writing to extend the story or create their own version.

& Social Sciences Connecting Art Students can work together and individually to create more tangrams as an expression of creativity and explore shape as an element of art. & Social Sciences Students can explore the history of China and the influence of their culture throughout the world.

Connecting Technology The internet-based lesson plans and resources that teachers can access to help their students access the curriculum is plentiful. Our students are technologically savvy, and enamored with the computer. It is logical that we embrace this medium as a primary way to communicate lessons to today’s students. Teachers should be using the classroom computer and other classroom technology throughout the day and across the curriculum as a primary tool for teaching.

References Grandfather Tang’s Story by Ann Tompert NCTM Standards MA Curriculum Frameworks www.Mathwire.com Deborah N. Walker designer of Tangram webquest http://www.webquests.ips.k12.in.us/Communities/webquests/Assets/webquests/k2/ma/spring02/walker/Webquest.htm