![]() The August 2021 Lesson of the Month comes from the Decimals book. To get the August 2021 Lesson of the Month, plus a new lesson each month, click here. For the first time, we’re showing you Part 2 of a lesson, or “Show What You Know.” This comes after the teacher has demonstrated the skill in Part 1 of the lesson (“Show Them How”), with the students working along with their own bricks. In Part 2, the teacher poses a problem for the students to work out while the teacher observes and coaches. ![]() In Part 1, students have learned how to model decimals in a 100 x 100-stud decimal grid. In Part 2, students are first asked to model 0.42 in a decimal grid with bricks. Next, they are asked to try modeling any combination of studs that adds up to 0.30. In the Decimals book, the example illustrated is 0.14 + 0.16. The 100 x 100 decimal grid is a very useful tool to explain the concept of decimals to the one-hundredth place. Author of the Brick Math series, Dr. Shirley Disseler, demonstrates how to teach this decimal addition lesson in a one-minute Brick Math video, which is also part of the August 2021 Lesson of the Month. Watching the videos on the website really helps a teacher or parent understand how to guide a student through the Brick Math curriculum. Brick Math is a K-6 math curriculum that uses LEGO® bricks to model 11 different math subjects: Counting, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Basic Fractions, Basic Measurement, Fraction Multiplication, Fraction Division, Advanced Measurement and Geometry, and Decimals. It works well for homeschooling, math intervention, enrichment, and as a whole-school program. Materials are simple and affordable. If you teach math or have a student at home who is learning math, check brickmath.com. The website includes videos for both teacher training and direct instruction of students. You can learn more about how Brick Math improves student math test scores and hear what people who are using Brick Math have to say about the program.
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![]() During the pandemic, the math skills of many elementary school students have dropped significantly. In the coming school year, educators are faced with the challenge of helping students both regain skills and learn new material. The latest thinking on how to help students who have lost math skills during the COVID year is to accelerate instruction rather than hold back. Guidance from the US Department of Education is to move ahead with grade-level math instruction, but include new strategies for learning where students show deficits. ![]() Brick Math is the perfect solution for teachers and schools looking for a way to help students whose math skills have faltered in the past year. The K – 6th grade program uses LEGO bricks to model math, an innovative approach that helps students quickly learn mathematic basics that range from Counting through Advanced Geometry. Since the program is modular, it can be brought in to address specific learning deficits a student may have. For example, if a teacher finds that a student missed out on learning decimals last year, the Brick Math program of instruction for Decimals will help that student move back up to grade level work quickly. ![]() Here’s how Brick Math can help a student who has lost math skills over the past year: 1. Determine what area of math the student is having trouble with (for example, understanding decimals). 2. Bring in the Brick Math subject area as needed (in the example, use the methods in the Decimals Teacher and Student books). The program focuses on helping the student quickly understand and master the topic. 3. Now the student is ready to rejoin the whole class in grade-level math. Brick Math is a K-6 math curriculum that uses LEGO® bricks to model 11 different math subjects: Counting, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Basic Fractions, Basic Measurement, Fraction Multiplication, Fraction Division, Advanced Measurement and Geometry, and Decimals. It works well for homeschooling, math intervention, enrichment, and as a whole-school program. Materials are simple and affordable.
If you teach math or have a student at home who is learning math, check brickmath.com. The website includes videos for both teacher training and direct instruction of students. You can learn more about how Brick Math improves student math test scores and hear what people who are using Brick Math have to say about the program. ![]() Happy summer to everyone! It's been a looooong school year for teachers, students, and parents—not one we hope to repeat again! Here's a new Brick Math Lesson of the Month for you to try. We think the Brick Math program will be especially helpful in the upcoming school year for kids who have lost some math skills during the pandemic year. ![]() The Brick Math Lesson of the Month for July 2021 is on Division Basics. It's a great way to introduce the concept of division to a student. The lesson uses LEGO bricks to model three basic division problems: 4 ÷ 2 = 2; 8 ÷ 4 = 2; and 6 ÷ 3 = 2. When a student builds the problems with bricks and counts the studs on each brick, the idea of division is made simple to learn. To get the July 2021 Lesson of the Month, plus a new lesson each month, click here. The lesson is accompanied by a short video that illustrates the brick building process for each problem. Watch it before you teach the lesson to your student(s), or watch it along with your student(s)! ![]() Brick Math is a K-6 math curriculum that uses LEGO® bricks to model 11 different math subjects: Counting, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Basic Fractions, Basic Measurement, Fraction Multiplication, Fraction Division, Advanced Measurement and Geometry, and Decimals. It works well for homeschooling, math intervention, enrichment, and as a whole-school program. Materials are simple and affordable. If you teach math or have a student at home who is learning math, check brickmath.com. The website includes videos for both teacher training and direct instruction of students. You can learn more about how Brick Math improves student math test scores and hear what people who are using Brick Math have to say about the program. ![]() See if you are smarter than a fifth grader! Adding decimals is typically part of the fifth grade math curriculum. Try this problem from Brick Math’s Decimals Using LEGO® Bricks: Solve 0.14 + 0.16 = ? Use bricks to model the solution. Watch Brick Math author Dr. Shirley Disseler teach this lesson. You can pause the video while you build your model of the math problem, then continue playing the video to check your answer. The lesson also includes more problems about adding decimals: 0.40 + 0.2. + 0.04 = ? 0.41 + 0.32 = ? 0.2 + 0.34 = ? Use bricks to model the solution Once you’ve solved all these problems, you’ll know how to add decimals, and you’ll be…as smart as a fifth grader! Brick Math is a K-6 math curriculum that uses LEGO® bricks to model 11 different math subjects: Counting, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Basic Fractions, Basic Measurement, Fraction Multiplication, Fraction Division, Advanced Measurement and Geometry, and Decimals. It works well for homeschooling, math intervention, enrichment, and as a whole-school program. Materials are simple and affordable. If you teach math or have a student at home who is learning math, check brickmath.com. The website includes videos for both teacher training and direct instruction of students. You can learn more about how Brick Math improves student math test scores and hear what people who are using Brick Math have to say about the program. ![]() Acclaimed science writer Annie Murphy Paul wrote about the tremendous value in solving problems using real, 3-D objects in the New York Times Sunday, June 13. It’s so applicable to Brick Math, we just had to quote a little of the article: “Three-dimensional space offers additional opportunities for offloading mental work and enhancing the brain’s powers. When we turn a problem to be solved into a physical object that we can interact with, we activate the robust spatial abilities that allow us to navigate through real-world landscapes. This suite of human strengths, honed over eons of evolution, is wasted when we sit still and think. “This holds true for a wide variety of problem types — including basic arithmetic, complex reasoning, planning and challenges that require creative insight. People who are permitted to manipulate concrete tokens representing elements of the problem to be solved bear less of a cognitive load and enjoy increased working memory. They learn more and are better able to transfer their learning to new situations. They are less likely to engage in symbol pushing, or moving numbers and words around in the absence of understanding. They are more motivated and engaged and experience less anxiety. They even arrive at correct answers more quickly.” [italics and boldface are ours] ![]() This is the essence of the Brick Math method. Students model K – 6th grade math problems using LEGO bricks, and in doing so, they activate their brains and really learn what the math means. Imagine building this brick model of dividing 24 by 6: ![]() The brick model demonstrates the concept of dividing a set of 24 into 4 sets of 6. Using the 3-D bricks to model the problem helps a student, in the words of writer Paul, "navigate through real-world landscapes." Students put this another way: "I can SEE the math!" Later, the teacher introduces the number sentence 24 ÷ 6 = 4 so students learn how to write the problem using numerals. This problem is from Division Using LEGO® Bricks. Brick Math methods are based on learning theory from a number of leading experts. The program has been tested on students and shown to improve how well they learn math. Brick Math is a K-6 math curriculum that uses LEGO® bricks to model 11 different math subjects: Counting, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Basic Fractions, Basic Measurement, Fraction Multiplication, Fraction Division, Advanced Measurement and Geometry, and Decimals. It works well for homeschooling, math intervention, enrichment, and as a whole-school program. Materials are simple and affordable.
If you teach math or have a student at home who is learning math, check brickmath.com. The website includes videos for both teacher training and direct instruction of students. You can learn more about how Brick Math improves student math test scores and hear what people who are using Brick Math have to say about the program. ![]() This month's free Brick Math Lesson of the Month is simple but powerful. It demonstrates the idea of fact families and shows students how to model them using LEGO® bricks so they can fully grasp the concept. This lesson, "Fact Families," from Multiplication Using LEGO® Bricks, includes pages from the Teacher and Student books, along with a video demonstrating the lesson. To get the June 2021 Lesson of the Month and a link to the video lesson, plus a new lesson each month, click here. ![]() Knowing fact families is a big step toward learning multiplication facts. In this lesson, students are asked to model the fact families for the numbers 6 and 8 using bricks. The lesson also gives teachers a very clear way to demonstrate the meaning of "4 sets of 2" (4 x 2) versus "2 sets of 4" (2 x 4). Besides showing the commutative property of multiplication, the concept of sets is important in many applications , including engineering, as well as a simple application such as sharing! ![]() This lesson is from Chapter 3 of Multiplication Using LEGO® Bricks in the Brick Math series. Students typically learn this skill in grades 2-3. Try the free lesson with your students to see how much fun it is to learn with Brick Math! Brick Math is a K-6 math curriculum that uses LEGO® bricks to model 11 different math subjects: Counting, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Basic Fractions, Basic Measurement, Fraction Multiplication, Fraction Division, Advanced Measurement and Geometry, and Decimals. It works well for homeschooling, math intervention, enrichment, and as a whole-school program. Materials are simple and affordable. If you teach math or have a student at home who is learning math, check brickmath.com. The website includes videos for both teacher training and direct instruction of students. You can learn more about how Brick Math improves student math test scores and hear what people who are using Brick Math have to say about the program. ![]() It’s great to see that schools are in gear again, assessing new curriculum for the 2021-22 school year, and deciding to use Brick Math with their students! Schools in Tennessee, South Carolina, California, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina have recently added Brick Math to their K - 6 math curriculum. Administrators and teachers tell us why they have chosen Brick Math: Teaching Math Using LEGO® Bricks for the upcoming school year: ![]() Reason # 1 – It works! The Brick Math program is a tried-and-tested method for learning K – 6 math for the past five years. Students “see” the math by building brick models. The Brick Math method helps students really understand the “why” behind the math by drawing the models they have created and explaining the process in words. ![]() Reason # 2 – Brick Math allows teachers and students to focus on one subject at a time. Whether it’s Addition, Basic Fractions, Division, Measurement, Decimals or one of 11 different math topics, Brick Math helps students learn the math concepts they have haven’t grasped yet or leap ahead when they are ready. It can be taught in a small group or a whole classroom. ![]() Reason # 3 – Schools, teachers, and parents love Brick Math because it helps students catch up on math they missed during the pandemic. Click here to learn more about how Brick Math can help students bring back the math skills they left behind during virtual or hybrid classes. ![]() Reason # 4 – It’s fun! Who wouldn’t enjoy learning math when LEGO® bricks are involved? Brick Math is ready to help schools with a program that can accelerate students’ math skills. If your students have fallen behind in math, please visit BrickMath.com to find out more about how Brick Math can help your students recover from math learning losses over the past year. The website includes training videos, testing results, research findings, and much more. ![]() The Brick Math Lesson of the Month for May 2021 deals with number skills that students learn in the earliest grades. From the Counting and Cardinality Using LEGO® Bricks books, this lesson teaches students how to "jump" in their counting, which helps them learn the positions of numbers in relation to other numbers. As part of our "Year of Brick Math," the free lesson includes the pages from the Teacher and Student books, along with a video of author Dr. Shirley Disseler demonstrating the lesson. To get the May 2021 lesson, "Number Lines and Jump Numbers," and a link to the video lesson, plus a new lesson each month, click here. ![]() It's important that children don't just learn to memorize by rote a list of numbers, "1, 2, 3, 4, ...". They need to understand ideas such as 4 is greater than 2, and that when they are counting, each number represents a specific value. This lesson, which utilizes a number line built from bricks, helps students grasp key counting and cardinality concepts. ![]() Students start by building a 1 - 12 number line along with the teacher. When the number line is made from bricks, it's easy to distinguish between odd and even numbers. It's also easy to count both forward and backward, touching each brick as they say its number. Then students build another number line that starts with 2 and jumps by twos (2, 4, 6, 8, ...). It's a great way to demonstrate what it means to count by twos. ![]() This lesson is from Chapter 5 of Counting and Cardinality Using LEGO® Bricks in the Brick Math series. Students typically learn this skill in grades K - 1. Try the free lesson with your students to see how much fun it is to learn with Brick Math! Brick Math is a K-6 math curriculum that uses LEGO® bricks to model 11 different math subjects: Counting, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Basic Fractions, Basic Measurement, Fraction Multiplication, Fraction Division, Advanced Measurement and Geometry, and Decimals. It works well for homeschooling, math intervention, enrichment, and as a whole-school program. Materials are simple and affordable. If you teach math or have a student at home who is learning math, check brickmath.com. The website includes videos for both teacher training and direct instruction of students. You can learn more about how Brick Math improves student math test scores and hear what people who are using Brick Math have to say about the program. ![]() To celebrate "The Year of Brick Math," we're adding a new feature to the free Brick Math Lesson of the Month -- video! Dr. Shirley Disseler, author of the Brick Math curriculum, demonstrates the April 2021 lesson in a five-minute video that shows the concepts for comparing and ordering 3 fractions with unlike denominators. To get the April 2021 lesson, "Comparing and Ordering Fractions," and a link to the video lesson, plus a new lesson each month, sign up here. ![]() Elementary school math teachers know how tricky this skill can be for students to comprehend. When they look at the fractions 1/2, 3/8, and 3/4, many students will think that 3/8 is the biggest fraction of the three, since the denominator is the largest number. This lesson demonstrates the "fraction train" method of finding a common denominator using LEGO bricks to build the fraction models and model the equivalent fractions. ![]() This lesson is from Chapter 7 of Basic Fractions Using LEGO Bricks in the Brick Math series. Students typically learn this skill in grades 3 - 4. Modeling the math with bricks makes it easy to learn. Try the free lesson with your students to see how much fun it is to learn with Brick Math! Brick Math is a K-6 math curriculum that uses LEGO® bricks to model 11 different math subjects: Counting, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Basic Fractions, Basic Measurement, Fraction Multiplication, Fraction Division, Advanced Measurement and Geometry, and Decimals. It works well for homeschooling, math intervention, enrichment, and as a whole-school program. Materials are simple and are not shared between students. It adapts easily to online instruction. ![]() If you teach math or have a student at home who is learning math, check brickmath.com. The website includes videos for both teacher training and direct instruction of students. You can learn more about how Brick Math improves student math test scores and hear what people who are using Brick Math have to say about the program. ![]() We’re putting the 2020-2021 school year in the rear-view mirror and looking ahead to new resources for students as they go back to in-person learning. Students will need something extra to regain the math skills they’ve lost in the past school year. That’s why the 2021-2022 school year is “The Year of Brick Math”! ![]() There’s never been a better time for Brick Math: Teaching Math Using LEGO Bricks. The innovative K – 6 math curriculum utilizes kid-friendly LEGO bricks to model math with direct, hands-on techniques that are easy to teach and fun to learn. The method is as far from Zoom screens and worksheets as it could be. The lessons are engaging and effective. Many students have lost significant ground in math during the past year. And parents are very concerned about their children’s lack of academic progress. ![]() The Brick Math program can help strengthen students’ math skills. Any or all of the 11 different K – 6 math subjects can be added to an existing math program to help struggling students. Thousands of schools, teachers, and parents use Brick Math in various ways: as a complete math curriculum, for instruction in specific content areas, for remediation, in small-groups, or working one-on-one. Brick Math school programs can include professional development, coaching, and individual support for teachers. ![]() Learning math with LEGO bricks is a proven method that gets powerful results. Research has shown that students who learn with Brick Math improve their test scores dramatically. Right now, students need innovative learning solutions that work. Brick Math is the solution to help students rebuild the math skills they have lost in the past year. Make 2021-22 your Year of Brick Math! Visit www.brickmath.com or call 802-751-8802 for more information. |
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