Tangrams

In all my years of teaching, I have never explored tangrams. I found a nice bucket of these unique shapes in my supply closet (a teacher had given them to me long ago), and I decided it would be fun to teach the kids how to use them. A tangram is an old Chinese puzzle that is made by taking a square and cutting it into seven shapes. These shapes are then used to create the shapes of animals, people, and objects.

We began our exploration by sharing a picture book titled Grandfather Tang's Story. Grandfather Tang tells the story of two fairy foxes who play a shape-shifting game of tag. As each fox turns into a different animal, Grandfather Tang would create the animal with his tangrams. The kids were hooked. I gave each student his or her own set of tangrams and challenged them to put them into a square. Our kids quickly mastered this challenge, and we began creating all kinds of shapes (a running man, seal, bear, duck, boat). Tangrams are a great mathematical tool - they force us to think spatially, look for patterns, and try new strategies to solve problems. I was so proud of our kids. If you'd like to learn more about tangrams, I've included some links on the blog's sidebar. You can make your own tangrams and begin creating! Take a look at the pictures below to get an idea of what tangrams are all about...

Tangrams

View more presentations from ghbrown.