Kindergarten ESL Grading Rubric: Shapes — Naming, Finding, Speaking and Tracing

Learning Objectives

• Say the 8 shape words: circle, square, triangle, rectangle, star, heart, oval, diamond.
• Point to the right shape when they hear it — in any color, any size and turned any way.
• Ask and answer "What shape is it?" – "It's a circle."
• Find shapes in everyday things: a clock is a circle, a door is a rectangle.
• Say a color and a shape together: "a red circle", "a yellow star".
• Trace the 8 shapes and shape words, and count shapes in a picture.

How to Use This Resource

• Keep one copy per child or one class copy. Observe during games, the worksheet and the speaking check, and circle a level for each skill. Read the self-check aloud; children color one circle per line.

Classroom Activity Ideas

• Use the self-check at the end of Lesson 3.
• Send the self-check home with the homework.

Differentiation

Support: Teach 4 shapes first (circle, square, triangle, star) and add the others in Lesson 2 or later. Give children real shapes to hold — cut card shapes, blocks or a cookie — and let them run a finger around the edge as they say the word. Accept the shape word alone ("Circle!"), then model "It's a circle." for them to repeat. In tracing, children can trace the shape only and leave the dotted words.

Extension: Children count sides and corners ("A triangle has 3 sides."), sort shapes by color, size or shape, and say "a big red circle / a small blue square". They make their own shape picture (a robot, a house, a fish) with the cut-out shapes and tell a partner: "I have 3 circles and 2 triangles." Strong children can copy the shape words without the dots.

Assessment

Add the six scores (6–24): 22–24 Excellent, 17–21 Good, 12–16 Developing, 6–11 Needs Practice.

Teacher Tips

Draw every new shape in the air with a big arm and count out loud as you go: "One, two, three — triangle!", "One, two, three, four — square!", "Round and round — circle!" Children copy you. Counting the sides is what stops the two common mix-ups: a square has 4 sides that are all the same, a rectangle has 2 long and 2 short sides; an oval is long like an egg, a circle is round like a ball. Also show each shape in a new color, a new size and turned upside down — many young children think a triangle must point up, or that "square" means "blue square" because that was the first card they saw.

What's Included

• 1-page rubric with star self-check (DOCX + PDF)

Additional Files

• Kindergarten ESL Grading Rubric: Shapes (DOCX)

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