Virginia SOL 4.MG.5.d.i
The Standard
parallel sides
Virginia Standards of Learning for Mathematics · The student will classify and describe quadrilaterals (parallelograms, rectangles, squares, rhombi, and/or trapezoids) using specific properties and attributes.
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify pairs of opposite sides that stay the same distance apart and never meet when extended. They sort quadrilaterals by having zero, one, or two pairs of parallel sides and use that evidence to name groups.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student accurately marks parallel side pairs on rotated and irregular-looking figures. The student classifies one-pair figures as trapezoids and two-pair figures in the parallelogram family, then explains the choice.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think parallel sides must be horizontal or the same length. They may count adjacent sides instead of opposite sides, or judge by how a figure is turned. They may not recognize that squares, rectangles, and rhombi all have two pairs of parallel sides.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Draw one quadrilateral with exactly one pair of parallel sides and one with two pairs. Mark parallel pairs with matching arrows and name each figure.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Use craft sticks on grid paper to build quadrilaterals with zero, one, and two parallel side pairs, then label each pair.
Show a tilted square and ask, “How can you prove it belongs to the parallelogram family without turning the paper?”
Play a card sort where students match quadrilateral pictures to zero, one, or two parallel-pair cards and defend each match.
Photograph window frames, tabletops, and bridge supports, then annotate the parallel sides and classify each visible quadrilateral.
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Related Standards
- 4.MG.5.d.iii
congruence of sides; and
- 4.MG.5.d.ii
perpendicular sides;
- 4.MG.5.c
Identify and describe parallel, intersecting, perpendicular, and congruent sides in quadrilaterals.
- 3.MG.2.b.ii
estimate and measure the distance around a polygon (with no more than six sides) to determine the perimeter and justify the measurement; and
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