Marjorie Gorman provides tips for teaching basic terms at key stage 1
Circle
A circle is defined in the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority Glossary as “a set of points in a plane at a fixed distance (the radius) from a fixed point (the centre) also in the plane.” A good way to explain this to very young children might be to say that “a circle is a flat shape with one curved side that joins up with itself”.
Useful activities
* Play ring games. (“Let’s join hands and make a circle with the farmer in the middle.”)
* Talk about circular or round shapes in the environment. Point out that a ball is round but it is a solid shape, not a circle.
* Demonstrate circles of different sizes by drawing circles on floor using string and chalk. Swing a conker on the end of a string. As the conker swings, it traces out a circle.
Other strategies
* Pass around a set of 2-D shapes in a “feely bag”. Ask the children to feel for shapes that have no straight sides.
* Make circle patterns by getting the children to draw around coins or press them into play dough or clay. If they use cylinders and cones to make prints, they can make links between 2-D and 3-D shapes.
