Handful of Blocks

 

This activity is for a pre-kindergarten to 1st grade level student to organize, interpret and translate unifix cubes to a three dimensional  bar graph.  It is probably the first time to make this construction and perceive this type of organization in a meaningful way.  

Objective:

1.   Students will collect unifix cubes of four different colors by a "handful" from their bag and sort to container.             
2.  They will match their cubes colors to a construction paper of the same color making a tower of the same
 color from their "handful". 
3.  This will continue until all four colors are placed with the matching color cards.                
4.  They are connected and comparisons of like and different towers are built are constructed.
5.  Students will finally be able to interpret their learning in a two and three dimensional graph transferred to
 paper.

Here are three sheets out of four without the color word ( examples of color cards) described in this post.

Prior Knowledge:

                 1.  Students should be able to count to ten objects
                 2.  Students can identify the numeral 0 through 10
                 3.  Recognize colors
                 4.  Make comparisons between taller, shorter, more than, less than, fewer.

Materials:  Each student  ( Preferable 4 in a group)

                1.   Twenty unifix cubes of four different colors (five of each) in a bucket or large plastic bag
                2.   Four different construction sheets that match the four unifix cubes (will have color words
                      written on each matching sheet)
                3.  crayons
                4.  "Handful of Blocks" Vertical Graph
                5.  "Handful of Blocks" Horizontal Graph
                6.  16 small containers ( 4 for each color, for each child to sort cubes in the beginning)

Experience

Have the four children encircle you.  Tell them them that today we are going to play an activity called,  "Handful of blocks"    Hold the materials while displaying a group of four cubes to the group, one group of each color and call on a students to identify the colors of the cubes.

Instruct the students spread out and show them the color cards and the names of the colors on the card.  Have them lay out the cards.
After that task, each child will receive their bag of 20 unifix cubes of 4 colors, 5 each. Guide them to "Grab a Handful of Blocks!"  Students will probably have some spilling out but encourage them to keep out those that were in their hand.  Have students sort the cubes by color into each of the four containers.

Investigate

Have one of the students take a handful of (e.g. red) cubes while the other students pick other colors.  Find the color card or paper that matches the color of the cubes.  Have the students count the number of their cubes.  Place the color cards side by side and have the students continue to connect the cubes of matching color.

 Have the students place the cubes vertically or stand them up in front of the matching color card.  Explain to the students that they have created a "bar graph".  Those bars or trains of cubes you made make it easier for us to compare the number of cubes in each color.       

This is similar to what the students could be seeing in the bar graph.  Only we have described using 4 (four) colors.

 Questioning

1.  How many orange cubes do you see? 
2.  Are there more red cubes than orange cubes?  How did you decide?  Did you count?  Can you decide
     without counting?  How?  Yes, you can compare the cubes.
3.  The green bar is taller than the red bar.  What does that mean?  Yes, the green bar has more cubes than
     the red bar.
4.  Which bar has the most cubes?  Yes the blue.  Did you need to count?  Which bar has the fewest           cubes?  Yes, the yellow.  Did you need to count?  No, you could tell by looking at their size. 

Change the vertical orientation to horizontal keeping the color cards oriented with the corresponding cubes. Turn the graph so that the bars are not taller but now are longer  bars.  Do the same answers apply?  Continue the investigation with the students.  If possible, tape the horizontal graph up for further reflection.

Analysis

 "Handful of Blocks" is an exercise that enables teachers to view where students are in counting and
making collections.  This is also a meaningful construction of a three dimensional graph to represent their  learning in a small group setting.  The math language development of more, less, fewer comparisons becomes apparent.

Comparing the vertical and horizontal graphs is a prelude to measurement.  Always set the trains or towers the same so that there is a common threshold or starting point for comparison.
       .