LINKING CUBES

IN THE
CLASSROOM
Manipulatives Assignment
Brooke and Cayley
WHAT ARE LINKING CUBES?
LINKING CUBES ARE COLOUR CUBES THAT CAN COMBINE AND BUILD SHAPES
WHEN LINKED TOGETHER. THEY ARE VERY VERSATILE AND HELP WITH MANY
MATHEMATICAL CONCEPTS

THINGS THEY CAN HELP STUDENTS WITH

COUNTING
SORTING
SEQUENCING
GRAPHING
PATTERN RECOGNITION
MEASURING
SPATIAL INTELLIGENCE
CREATIVITY
PROBLEM-SOLVING
FINE MOTOR SKILLS.
USES IN THE CLASSROOM
CENTERS AT YOUR DESK FUN
AS STUDENTS ARE IF STUDENTS ARE OF COURSE, IF
WORKING WORKING CHILDREN CAN
THROUGH MATH INDEPENDENTLY BUT PHYSICALLY PLAY
CENTERS, ONE ARE STRUGGLING TO WITH SOMETHING IN
CENTER CAN UNDERSTAND OR THEIR HAND THEY
EXPLORE THE WRAP THEIR HEAD ARE GOING TO BE
CONCEPT BY AROUND A CONCEPT MORE ENGAGED IN
BUILDING, THEY CAN USE THE WHAT THEY ARE
STACKING BLOCKS AND THEN LEARNING WHILE
SORTING AND SHOW THEIR MAKING IT FUN
MORE THINKING
HOW STUDENTS CAN USE THEM
STUDENTS CAN VISUALLY REPRESENT THE
NUMBERS THEY ARE WORKING WITH
STUDENTS CAN COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE
QUANTITY OF DIFFERENT NUMBERS BASED ON
THE LINKING CUBE STACKS SIZE
STUDENTS CAN BUILD A 3D SHAPE AND ANALYZE
ITS PROPERTIES
STUDENTS CAN VISUALIZE THE VOLUME OF
SHAPES
STUDENTS CAN WORK ON FINE MOTOR SKILLS
TARGETED LEARNING
OUTCOMES
KINDERGARTEN GRADE 1 GRADE 2 GRADE 3
CHILDREN INVESTIGATE STUDENTS EXAMINE STUDENTS STUDENTS ANALYZE
QUANTITY TO 10. ADDITION AND COMMUNICATE AND APPLY
SUBTRACTION WITHIN LENGTH USING UNITS STRATEGIES FOR
20. MULTIPLICATION AND
DIVISION WITHIN 100

GRADE 4 GRADE 5 GRADE 6

STUDENTS INTERPRET STUDENTS EMPLOY STUDENTS INTERPRET
AND EXPRESS AREA RATIOS TO REPRESENT AND EXPRESS VOLUME
RELATIONSHIPS
BETWEEN QUANTITIES.
SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES
KINDERGARTEN
ORGANIZING GUIDING LEARNING
IDEA QUESTION OUTCOME
PATTERNS: AWARENESS HOW CAN PATTERNS BE CHILDREN IDENTIFY AND
OF PATTERNS SUPPORTS RECOGNIZED? CREATE REPEATING
PROBLEM SOLVING IN PATTERNS.
VARIOUS SITUATIONS.

ACTIVITY:
STUDENTS ARE GIVEN CARDS THAT
CONSIST OF PATTERNS. THEY MUST USE
THEIR LINKING CUBES TO RECREATE THE
PATTERN AND THEN FURTHER THE
PATTERN. STUDENTS CAN LOOK AT THE
COLOURS OF THE PATTERN AND DECIDE
WHICH COLOURS COME NEXT
SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES
GRADE 9
GENERAL SPECIFIC
ACTIVITY:
OUTCOME OUTCOME
DESCRIBE THE DETERMINE THE STUDENTS CAN BUILD
CHARACTERISTICS SURFACE AREA OF ANY SHAPE THAT
OF 3-D OBJECTS COMPOSITE 3-D THEY WANT USING
AND 2-D SHAPES, OBJECTS TO SOLVE THE LINKING CUBES,
AND ANALYZE THE PROBLEMS AND THEN THEY CAN
RELATIONSHIPS ANALYZE THE
AMONG THEM SURFACE AREAS AND
VOLUME BASED ON
THE CUBES
OUR ACTIVITIES
 SHOW ME, MAKE IT, STACK IT

STEPS TO THIS ACTIVITY

1. STUDENTS WILL FLIP A CARD FROM A DECK OF CARDS

2. THEY WILL THEN REPRESENT THE NUMBER IN THE 10-FRAME
WITH OBJECTS
3. THEN, THEY WILL USE THE LINKING CUBES TO CREATE THAT
NUMBER BY STACKING THEM TOGETHER
STACK IT
STUDENTS WILL LOOK AT THE NUMBER
ON THE DIE AND WITHOUT COUNTING
EACH DOT, THEY WILL BUILD THAT
NUMBER WITH THE CORRECT AMOUNT
OF CUBES.

ONCE THEY ARE DONE THEY CAN

COMPARE HOW BIG OR SMALL SOME
NUMBERS ARE TO OTHERS
OUR ACTIVITIES EXPLAINED
STACK IT:

I USED THIS MATH MAT IN MY KINDERGARTEN PRACTICUM AS ONE OF THE CENTERS WHEN I FIRST
INTRODUCED SUBITIZING. THERE WERE MANY VERSIONS OF THIS MAT THAT I MADE SO THAT
STUDENTS COULD SWITCH TO A DIFFERENT ONE IF THERE WAS TIME LEFT AT THAT CENTER ONCE
THEY FINISHED THE MAT THAT THEY STARTED WITH. AT THIS POINT, STUDENT’S HAD A BASIC LEVEL
OF UNDERSTANDING THAT NUMBERS CAN BE REPRESENTED IN DIFFERENT WAYS. WHEN
PARTICIPATING IN THIS CENTRE, STUDENTS ARE TO USE THE LINKING CUBES TO STACK HOWEVER
MANY THAT THEY NEED. WHILE THIS WORKS ON SUBITIZING SKILLS (0-5), THIS ALSO WORKS ON THE
FINE MOTOR SKILLS THAT ARE NEEDED AT THIS AGE.

SHOW ME, MAKE IT, STACK THEM:

ONCE STUDENTS HAD A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF SUBITIZING AND HOW WE CAN TEACH OUR
BRAINS TO “KNOW A NUMBER WITHOUT HAVING TO COUNT”, I INTRODUCED THIS NEXT MATH MAT.
THIS MAT REALLY REINFORCED SOME OF THE DIFFERENT WAYS THAT NUMBERS CAN BE
REPRESENTED. STUDENTS USED CARDS TO SUBITIZE THE NUMBER FIRST, THEN THEY WERE TO
REPRESENT THAT NUMBER IN A TEN FRAME USING MISCELLANEOUS BUTTONS, AND FINALLY THEY
USED THE LINKING CUBES TO STACK THE AMOUNT TOGETHER.