Solid Shapes Book

To go along with our solid shapes unit, we always make “My Solid Shapes Book”! These are easy to make, and the kids really learn a lot from it.

To make, each student will need 8″x11″ sheets of paper. They will need half the amount of pages their book will have. For an example, the solid shapes book above has 7 pages, so it required 4 sheets of 8″x11″ paper. If the book being made has an odd number of pages, just double that amount, and you’ll end up cutting half of a page off.

Okay, then, just lay the sheets on top of each other, spacing them out evenly for the titles. Then, fold the bundle of paper in half and staple together. As I mentioned above, if you have an odd number of pages, just cut one sheet off and re-staple!

We always make these books together. After putting the book together, the kids label each page. Then, one at a time, they write two sentences on each page. For solid shapes, the sentence format my kids follow is “A (name of shape) has __ faces, __ edges, and __ verticies. A (example of shape) is a (name of shape).” Then, I guide them through how to draw the solid shape. Last, but not least, they draw at least two examples of the shape.

Finally, kids color their books! You may decide to keep the books in the classroom for a week or so for the kids to read independently and to you/an assistant/volunteer.

It takes some time to make these books, at least for the younger kids and the first book. The more of these you make, the easier it gets. Usually, I dedicate twenty/thirty minutes a day working on these, and it takes a few days. I think it’s totally worth it though because my kids always know their solid shapes and all the facts about each shape! I have had my kids put together the books themselves, and I have also pre-made the books before giving them out. It just depends on your class!