Students have been learning a lot about place value through their practice using math manipulatives. 'Manipulative' is just a fancy word for a tool to help a student learn experientially about concepts that are often abstract. In our classroom, we've been learning a lot about addition and the values of tens and ones. Base ten blocks have helped us explore these concepts in tactile ways. This is something that is both challenging and fun. Students have been making numbers in different ways and noticing patterns and groupings that will help to solidify or cement their knowledge of math concepts.
Here are some really creative examples of different ways students have explored making 25:
 |
| 25 using 1's blocks |
 |
| 25 using a 10's rod and three groups of five 1's |
 |
| 25 using five groups of 1's |
 |
| 25 using groups of two 1's with one block left over |
These are important building blocks for looking at grouping numbers and learning to do mental math using friendly numbers such as 1, 2, 5, 10, and 25. Please challenge your child to do simple addition at the grocery store, dinner table, and with the fingers on their own hands! I have also included a link on the '
Important Resources' page to an online tool for exploring base ten blocks.
