Using+resources+at+Sacred+Heart


 * Using Resources. **

**Whilst organising the resources that we have here at Sacred Heart School, I came across a tub full of Cuisenaire rods. Some of these rods looked a little miserable, as their colours had faded over the years, but I still felt I could use them effectively in the classroom.**

**I am teaching a composite grade 2/3/4 class of 18 students with a wide range of abilities. I started by introducing the rods to the students as a base 10 tool and we discussed the various ways the rods could be arranged to reach a total of 10. The students quickly became quite adept at this task so I decided to extend the activity. The following is a summary of such an extension activity**.


 * **The activity starts with each student being handed 5 of each different denomination of Cuisenaire rod (the set that I found had less of the orange, or 10, rod, so students only received 2 of that denomination).**


 * ** The teacher then selects a number of the day, which in this activity is 15. Discussion then follows on the value of each rod and the values are written on the whiteboard along with their corresponding values. **


 * ** Students are then asked to arrange their Cuisenaire rods so they can easily see the value of each rod. Some students choose to arrange their rods in a line from 1 to 10. **
 * ** Other students choose to arrange theirs a little differently. **

**The teacher then asks the students to display the number of the day (in this case 15) in any way possible.**


 * ** This student has chosen to use a rod with a value of 10 along with a rod with a value of 5. **


 * Students are then asked to create as many combinations of rods as they can to display the number 15. **


 * ** The students are continually finding new combinations. **


 * ** This student has displayed 12 ways of showing 15. **


 * Once the students have used as many rods as they can, they then write the number sentences that represent how they have displayed the number 15. **




 * I have found that this activity has engaged the students and the activity has now extended to the students setting their own number of the day when working individually and rolling dice to reach a number to display when working in groups. **