IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

What an exciting first day we had! The day was filled with singing, dancing, making friends, and learning new routines. Today during math workshop, the children were invited to explore one of our math manipulatives, unifix cubes. We sat in a circle and had an open discussion about their possible uses, not necessarily mentioning anything about “math”. Friends showed ways to create and build with them, including making letters and buildings. Then, our friend Beatrice shared something. “You can do math with these. Like patterns!” Friends then began making different types of AB and ABC patterns. Another friend, Addie, had another interesting idea. She explained how she could measure things with a long stick of unifix cubes.  We had a lively discussion about measurement and began measuring things around our circle. Another friend, Lucas, suggested, “Hey, we should put all our sticks together and build something!” and J’Den enthusiastically replied, “Lets do it together!” The kids then took charge on their own, negotiating what piece would go where and eventually decided as a class to build a long line as far as the unifix cubes could go. It was so exciting to see different friends lead and others practice listening to one another. It was a memorable and valuable lesson in working together. Dylan worked as project manager and directed friends to certain ends of the line. Tajanaye, Kalaya and Sascha were gatherers. Amaiah cheered people on. Everyone had a role. When the class piece was finally finished, we sat down and talked about what math had just taken place. Friends mentioned patterning, counting, measurement, and general building. We also talked about how we had worked together and labeled it as teamwork! What an incredible experience for only the first day of school.

Addie shares what she discovered. “You can measure things, like this.”