What are some lessons using the math manipulatives called unifix cubes?

Question

Wow I can't believe I forgot to add that. Second Grade.

Answer 1

When I taught second grade, I used unifix cubes to teach lots of skills and for many different levels and purposes.
1. You can use them to illustrate the tens and ones places. For example, I had the kids group cubes into 10s and then make the numbers they were given. For example, 22 would be 2 (kid made) ten sticks and two single cubes.
It was an introductory lesson, and we moved onto using real ten sticks pretty quickly but the hands-on experience helped them realize what numbers actually meant.
2. Have them available for your second graders who might still need manipulatives to perform addition and subtraction problems.
3. They're also good for helping kids skip count. It's powerful to count 10 cubes one by one and then pair them up and count by twos and then put them in two groups of 5 and skip count.
4. Another good way to use them is to introduce multiplication. Have the kids use them to problem solve equal groups. Like, "Mary has 3 friends and 12 cookies. How many cookies does each friend get?"
Hope this helps. :)

Answer 2

Unifix cubes are great when you're teaching addition or subtraction using tens and ones places.... but maybe that might be more like a 1st grade lesson? You could use them as a unit of measurement and measure items. Or as a unit of measurement for a graphing exercise. When I taught 1st grade we used them to graph the different colors of m&m's in a small fun sized bag. Try taping them to a poster board so that the whole class can see.

These things are great! Have fun!

Answer 3

Although I haven't actually attended these workshops myself, I've heard nothing but great things about Marcy Cook and her math manipulatives. Ask your principal if any other teachers at your school have been to her workshops, and steal some ideas from them. One of my colleagues actually told me she didn't understand why every math teacher in our school hasn't been required to go to the workshops. They're that good.

I teach Reading and Language Arts, but in the past we made larger cubes out of unifix cubes (3rd grade). Students had to predict how many cubes it would take to make another cube (and NOT just a rectangular prism). I put them in groups to make one cube, and then different groups joined forces to put their cubes together until they'd made another one. This might be a bit much for most 2nd graders, but it's an extension activity you could use for your higher learners. :)

Answer 4

Plenty of ideas at this site:

http://www.netrox.net/~labush/nctm.htm

Refer to the web for all kinds of ideas. You don't have to invent the wheel, or the math lesson.

I use unifix cubes in my high school bio classes for kids to model all kinds of things ... molecules, genes, ...

Answer 5

What grade?