Classifying 2-D shapes – Grade 5 math lesson
Lesson 17 of 18 in the Grade 5 math course
US version. US grades, US spelling and dollars ($). · UK Maths Department
A complete 45-minute lesson for grade 5 (ages 10–11) that runs on this page – at school or at home. Every answer is graded right away, with a worked explanation.
- Time
- 45 minutes + 20 min homework
- Grade
- Grade 5 (ages 10–11)
- You need
- Paper, a pencil and this page
- Graded
- Instantly, with explanations
For parents: how to use this lesson
You don't need to know this topic yourself. The lesson explains each step on screen, one tidy step at a time. Every answer is graded straight away with a worked explanation, so you never have to grade anything.
- Read what your child will learn and the big ideas together.
- Press Start the lesson below and sit with your child for the teaching and the worked examples (about 19 minutes).
- Let them do the practice on their own. They choose Getting started, On track or Challenge – start on On track and move up after a few right in a row.
- Finish with the exit ticket and the talk question: “Is a square a rectangle? Is a rectangle a square? Explain.”
- Later that day or the next day: the homework (20 minutes), then a practice test.
Watch out for
- Thinking a square is not a rectangle. Check the rule: four right angles – a square has them too.
- Naming shapes by how they look when turned (a "diamond"). Count sides and check angles, whatever way round it is.
Tip for home: Hunt for parallel and perpendicular lines in windows, doors and tiles.
What your child will learn
Learning goal: describe and classify 2-D shapes by their sides, angles and lines.
Success looks like
- I can describe shapes by their properties.
- I can spot parallel and perpendicular lines.
- I can classify shapes.
Key words
- polygon
- a flat shape with straight sides
- parallel
- always the same distance apart
- perpendicular
- meeting at a right angle
- regular
- all sides and angles equal
What to have ready
- Paper and a pencil
- This page on a computer, tablet or phone
- For the hands-on part: Sort cut-out shapes into groups using a sorting diagram: has a right angle / has parallel sides.
The big ideas (for the adult)
Shapes are grouped by their properties: the number of sides, equal sides, parallel sides and the size of their angles.
Parallel lines never meet; perpendicular lines meet at a right angle.
A square is a special rectangle, and a rectangle is a special parallelogram: one shape can belong to several groups.
The lesson, step by step
| Part | Time | How it is checked |
|---|---|---|
| Starter: quick recall | 5 min | Graded by Classfern |
| Teaching input | 10 min | Not assessed, self-checked |
| Worked examples and guided practice | 9 min | Not assessed, graded by Classfern |
| Independent practice | 15 min | Graded by Classfern |
| Closure and exit ticket | 6 min | Graded by Classfern, self-checked |
Starter, "your turn", practice and exit ticket are graded by Classfern. Worked examples and teaching are not assessed. The hands-on task and the reflection are self-assessed. Explanations in talk are judged by the parent and not recorded.
The lesson
It runs here on the page. No sign-up and no names – progress is kept only in this browser.
Homework and practice at home
20 minutes: 10 practice questions, 3 multiple-choice questions and 2 to remember from earlier work, then a short reflection. New questions every time, all graded instantly.
More practice
More Grade 5 math lessons
- Order of operations
- Solving word problems
- Number patterns
- Place value: the value of each digit
- Decimals: tenths, hundredths and thousandths
- Multiplying and dividing by powers of 10
- Decimals and percentages
- Calculating with decimals
- Comparing, ordering and writing numbers
- Rounding decimals
- Adding and subtracting decimals
- Fractions of a whole number
- Adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators
- Multiplying fractions
- Converting measurement units
- Volume of rectangular prisms
- Coordinates
Curriculum
Common Core State Standards 5.G.B.3: “Understand that attributes belonging to a category of two-dimensional figures also belong to all subcategories of that category. For example, all rectangles have four right angles and squares are rectangles, so all squares have four right angles.”
Common Core State Standards 5.G.B.4: “Classify two-dimensional figures in a hierarchy based on properties.”
Our lessons and questions are our own. They are not written or endorsed by any government department, testing agency or exam board.