Thinking Blocks

What are they?

Thinking blocks is a way to represent mathematical problems by using building blocks to represent the elements of the problem. Using thinking blocks is a great tool. I really like how this website (Thinking Blocks) lays out a description should you get an answer incorrect. It makes it so that you can easily see your mistake, and allows you to correct that mistake. I challenge you to try out some of the sections of the website and play with the problem builders.

After completing the sections, I thought that this would be a very useful tool in helping students understand the concepts of addition, subtraction, etc., and you could even incorporate algebra into it by representing the unknown variable with "x" instead of with a question mark. This seems to be more important at increasingly earlier ages in schoolchildren. Recently, I know a local school district began classifying what was 6th grade math level to now be what should be taught in the 5th grade levels.

All of these stages incorporate addition and subtraction skills, but the more advanced stages (Change 2/Compare 3) I believe would be better suited for 4th/5th grade application. The earlier stages I could see being used in earlier elementary years (2nd/3rd grade). You really would have to gauge this type of lesson off of your curriculum and what is to be covered by state standards. I agree with Jillian, that you could use this tool for a variety of applications - fractions, multiplication, etc. Overall, a great tool to use in the classroom!

Try it out, see what you think, and most importantly, have fun!