Tangrams

The grade math curriculum suggests using Tangrams and picture books when teaching 2-D shapes. (See below)

I've used these before, but this year I changed several of my resources and had a much more successful lesson.

Books

I used the books Grandfather Tang's Story and  Three Pigs, One Wolf, and Seven Magic Shapes

Pictures

I took close-up pictures of the templates used in each book, which I displayed on my SMART board.

Magnetic Tangrams

I have a set of large foam tangrams that I use to demonstrate with.  Before starting my lesson this time around, I hot-glued magnets to the back of each piece.  Now I can use them on my whiteboard as I demonstrate, which makes the demonstration visible for all students.













Both of these visuals added success to my lesson.  In the past, my students had to refer to tiny 3 cm square pictures, now the large image on the SMART board combined with my step-by-step demonstration on the whiteboard, enabled all of my students to build the shapes successfully!

Do you have other Tangram books or resources that you've found successful?