New year, new FREE Brick Math Lesson of the Month!

For January 2020, the lesson is from Subtraction Using LEGO® Bricks Teacher and Student Editions. The lesson teaches students about subtracting within 20, and utilizes the modeling technique of ten-frames to help students begin to understand the power of our number system that is based on 10. 

The ten-frame is built with a 2x5 configuration of bricks. Two easy ways to build a ten-frame are to use either a 2x4 and a 1x2 brick, or to use a 2x3 and a 2x2 brick. Just make sure those bricks are the same color, so the 2x5 configuration of the ten-frame is all one color.

Then the subtraction is modeled on top of the ten-frame. There are two examples in this lesson to demonstrate subtraction using this method: the first one shows 6 - 4 = 2; the second one, which uses two ten-frames to model,  shows 12 - 8 = 4.

Try this lesson with your students who are learning the concept of subtraction. You'll only need a few LEGO® or compatible bricks to model both problems, and you'll help your students "see the math"!

​Sign up here for the FREE Brick Math Lesson of the Month for January and you'll automatically receive a new lesson every month.

Happy holidays to all! Here's our present to you: A brand-new Brick Math Lesson of the Month!

For December, we have a lesson from Addition Using LEGO® Bricks. The lesson helps students learn two important concepts:
1.  How to model place values with bricks
2.  How to model addition using those place value models

This is a great way to teach students about place values. The lesson models the ones with 1x1 bricks, the tens with 1x2 bricks, and the hundreds with 1x3 bricks. Once students understand how to model numbers using place values, it’s a short step to learning how to add using place values.

The lesson of the month gives the step-by-step lesson from the Teacher’s Edition first, and then shows the corresponding pages in the Student Edition that students will complete as they learn.

To receive this Lesson of the Month and be registered to get a new one every month, click here.

The second edition of Basic Fractions Using LEGO® Bricks has just been published! This edition has even more ways to teach students about fractions than before.
The first edition of Teaching Fractions Using LEGO® Bricks was the very first book written in the 22-book Brick Math series. Author Dr. Shirley Disseler went back to this best-selling book and thought it was time for an update. The second edition has lots of new illustrations of the brick models as well as several new chapters with content that was not included in the original book. Here's what's new in this second edition:

• The "fraction train" - Dr. Disseler's own copyrighted method for teaching how to find the least common denominator
• Comparing and ordering fractions with unlike denominators
• How to add and subtract mixed numbers

The Basic Fractions book also includes all the topics from the first edition to help students learn:

• How to recognize fractions
• The vocabulary of fractions
• How to define a whole and represent parts of different-sized wholes
• Equivalent fractions
• How to add and subtract fractions with like and unlike denominators
• How to represent and understand mixed numbers 

Basic Fractions Using LEGO® Bricks is available in both Teacher and Student Editions. The Teacher Edition is the lesson guide for the teacher to follow, with step-by-step lessons and full-color illustrations of the brick models students will build as you teach. The Student Edition is the workbook that each student uses to draw their completed models, answer questions about the lessons, and explain their thought process in writing, and each chapter has an assessment so you can easily tell if your students are mastering the concepts.
Right now, until December 15, the Brick Math FREE Lesson of the Month is from the Basic Fractions book, and it shows how to teach students to compare and order fractions, using the fantastic "fraction train" method. To download the free lesson, click here.

Starting today, you can receive a FREE Brick Math lesson every month! You'll be able to download a PDF that includes the teacher instructions for a lesson, plus the student pages that go along with the lesson. It's a great way to try out the Brick Math program with your students.
Once you've signed up, you'llreceive a new Brick Math lesson every month. 
This month, the lesson is from Basic Measurement Using LEGO® Bricks, and it's about "Coin Values." You'll use bricks to model the values of coins: pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. It's a simple, yet very effective, way to help students comprehend the value of each coin and how the coins relate to each other. Typically, students learn about coin values in Kindergarten or first grade.
​Click here to sign up now for the monthly free lesson plans + student pages to build your Brick Math library!