The Greedy Triangle

Title: The Greedy Triangle

Author: Marilyn Burns

Illustrator: Gordon Silveria

Recommended Grade Level: K-5

Common Core Mathematics Standards Addressed: ??

Goal of story:

Students will be able to recognize and identify various polygons.

Students will make the connection that a polygon's name refers to the number of sides that it has.

Vocabulary:

triangle -- 3-sided polygon

quadrilateral -- 4-sided polygon

pentagon -- 5-sided polygon

hexagon -- 6-sided polygon

nonagon -- 9-sided polygon

decagon -- 10-sided polygon

Synopsis:

The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns begins with a happy triangle who is busy with may different jobs. It spends its time making music in the orchestra, catching wind for sailboats, holding up roofs and so much more. The triangle's favorite thing is to slip into place when people put their hands on their hips. He likes finding out the latest news so that he can tell his friends.

One day, the triangle become’s tired of doing the same thing and visits the shapeshifter. The triangle thinks if he had one more side and one more angle that his life could be more interesting. The shapeshifter grants him his wish and the triangle became a quadrilateral. Life is wonderful as a quadrilateral with all the new things he could do. He could be a baseball diamond, a computer screen, a window or a checkerboard. The quadrilateral's favorite thing was to be the pages of a book because he could learn so many new things to share with his friends. Then one day, he becomes tired of doing the same thing and once again he visits the shapeshifter.

The triangle’s story goes on as he continues to change his shape, he adds one more side and one more angle. He is happy learning all the things he can do with his new shape can do; but over and over again he gets tired of the same job and returns to the shapeshifter. He contintues to change shpe until he has so many sides and angles he can't keep his balance. Once he realizes that he cannot continue as his final shape he returns to the shapeshifter and asks to be a triangle again.

This book introduces the knowledge of basic shapes and expands into more complex ones like the pentagon and hexagon. As the story introduces the new shape it shows the reader all the different uses it has and gives the students a better understanding of the shape.