Ancient Chinese Tangrams

By Ms. Laura Billhimer

ReviewDon’t forget : Test on Friday!

What do the following pictures have in common?Raise your hand

when you think you know!

If you guessed that they are all games…

You are

right!

Today…We are going to learn about a game invented in ancient China.This game is a lot like a…

Puzzle!

This is a square made of 7 shapes.

Each shape is called a tan.

A tangram is a picture that is made out of all 7 shapes of the square.

The shapes must touch but may not overlap.

Notice how each shape has all 7 pieces!

Is this a tangram?

Yes it is! Why?

It has all 7 pieces.

Is this a tangram?

No! Why not?

It only has 5

pieces!

Is it a tangram now?

Yes! Why?

The picture has all

7 pieces

The ancient Chinese used tangrams to tell stories.

The storyteller moves the the tans (shapes) around to make and show the shape of a character in the story.

You are going to hear one of these Ancient Chinese

Tangram stories…right now!

Listen to the story and watch how the tangrams are arranged to make each

picture in the story!

Fox

Rabbit

Dog!

Squirrel

Hawk

Turtle

Crocodile

Goldfish

Goose

Lion

Chou and Wu Ling

Grandfather Tang and Little Soo

The End!