Spotlight On: Math Work Places

As a part of the Bridges math program that we use, children regularly go to work places to practice skills related to the concepts we are focusing on. Work places range from games to play independently or with partners to tasks to complete with a variety of manipulatives. I occasionally add in a work place that focuses on an area I notice students need additional support with, as well. Today, I took pictures of students at each work place and then asked them to describe what the expectations are for each work place. Hopefully, this gives you a better idea of what your child is talking about when he or she tells you about our math work places!

Bucket of Frogs: We use plastic frogs to sort by attributes, make patterns, and to practice counting and grouping.







Beat You to Ten: This is a partner game that we play to see who will collect ten unifix cubes first. You spin the spinner and add the number of unifix cubes that you spun. You switch colors for each spin. We can think about who has more and who has less, as well as how many more unifix cubes are needed to get to ten.




Pattern Blocks: We use pattern blocks to make designs and patterns. The shapes we use are: triangles, squares, rhombuses, trapezoids, and hexagons.






Which Bug Will Win? This is a game you play independently. You spin the spinner and mark the bug you get (either the ladybug or the spider). It is a race to see which bug's column you fill in first! The concepts focused on here are more than and less than, counting, and probability.








Unifix Cube Patterns: You use the pattern cards provided at this work place to build a pattern using unifix cubes. You can then record the pattern you created by coloring in the blank unifix cube record sheet.









Geoboard Shapes: You use rubber bands and geoboards to make the shapes that are on the example cards provided. After building the shape on a geoboard, you draw the shape(s) you made on a recording sheet using a straightedge (ruler) and a pencil.








Work places change every few weeks as we begin to explore new concepts. Ask your child what his or her favorite work place is this week!