Baby, it's cooooold outside (at least where we are)! So here's something to warm up your students: a free lesson that shows the meaning of multiplying by bundling bricks into sets of 10. From Brick Math Multiplication, the lesson is called "Place Value/Bundling Multiplication". To get this lesson, click here, and you'll also get a new free Brick Math lesson every month after that. ​ 

Happy 2025! Let's start off the year with a free Brick Math lesson from Addition. It teaches the concept of adding with the "change" number unknown; for example, 2 + ___ = 5. To get this lesson, click here, and you'll also get a new free Brick Math lesson every month after that. ​

An important concept to learn in addition is being able to determine the solution when any one part of the equation is unknown. In the Brick Math program, students start learning to add with an unknown result. They then learn to add when the change number is unknown, and then, when the start number is unknown. In this way, students learn the part-part-whole relationships between numbers.
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The "Change Unknown" lesson models an equation with bricks, leaving the "change" term blank. Then students develop their own strategies to determine what the change number is,  by counting up, one-to-one correspondence, or by matching studs. The lesson shows students how to move the studs from the start location and place them on the result location, comparing uncovered studs that show the number that will be in the change location. The lesson also gives students practice using the addition vocabulary words addend and sum.

The Brick Math curriculum is divided into 13 separate content areas: 
Counting, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Basic Fractions, Basic Measurement, Fraction Multiplication, Fraction Division, Advanced Measurement and Geometry, Decimals, Data and Statistics, and Pre-Algebra. 
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Students can start anywhere in the curriculum. Brick Math can be used as a complete math curriculum or brought in as a supplement to help students who aren't having math success with other programs. Check BrickMath.com to learn more!

The FREE Brick Math Lesson of the Month for December 2024  comes from Brick Math's Subtraction. To get this lesson, click here, and you'll also get a new free Brick Math lesson every month after that. ​

This lesson teaches students how to subtract within 20 and uses a strategy called "ten-frames," which helps students see the numbers as they relate to the number 10. Ten-frames are a wonderful way to introduce the base ten system early on.

The second half of the Lesson of the Month comes from the Student workbook for Brick Math Subtraction. These are the pages students will use as they follow the teacher's lesson. In these pages, the students respond to questions and draw the brick models as they build them. This is all part of the Brick Math learning method, which starts with building models, then drawing the models, and then explaining the math in words. It's a proven method that gets real results with students.

The FREE Brick Math Lesson of the Month for November 2024 comes from Brick Math Division.  It introduces two important concepts – division as grouping into equal sets, and division as repeated subtraction. To get this lesson, click here, and you'll also get a new free Brick Math lesson every month after that. 

The lesson starts with pages from the Teacher Edition of Brick Math Division. First, the teacher models two set boxes and asks the students to divide the brick studs evenly into the two boxes. Then the teacher asks students to relate the division problem to multiplication, ensuring that students understand the relationship between division and multiplication. Finally, the teacher shows students how this same division problem can be viewed as repeated subtraction. In one short lesson, students are learning so much about what division means! The last two pages are from the Student Edition of Division, and they are used by students to answer questions in writing as they work through the lesson.

This technique is why Brick Math works so well to help students who haven't learned through more traditional curricula. Students build brick models, then draw those models and answer questions explaining why the math works. It's a proven process, moving from concrete to abstract, that really helps students understand math.

The Brick Math curriculum is divided into 13 separate content areas: 
Counting, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Basic Fractions, Basic Measurement, Fraction Multiplication, Fraction Division, Advanced Measurement and Geometry, Decimals, Data and Statistics, and Pre-Algebra.  ​

The FREE Brick Math Lesson of the Month for October 2024 is from Brick Math Basic Measurement, and it teaches students the introductory concepts of area. To get this lesson, click here, and you'll also get a new free Brick Math lesson every month after that. ​

Students will understand area best when you teach it visually. This lesson uses the "studs" on the plastic toy bricks to represent square feet in problems that teach area. Students count the studs to determine how many square feet are in the area of various rectangles. After they understand the idea of area, they learn the formula for area (L x W) and can extend it to other problems.

In this lesson, students are also learning how to relate area to perimeter and understand the differences between the two terms. In  Brick Math Basic Measurement, perimeter has just been taught in the previous chapter. Math knowledge always builds on earlier math knowledge, which is one of the most important reasons to make sure students have a strong foundation of understanding before moving on to a new concept. And the focus of Brick Math is for students to learn a deep, foundational understanding of math.

This month's free Brick Math Lesson of the Month teaches students how to subtract fractions that have like denominators. To get this lesson, click here, and you'll also get a new free Brick Math lesson every month after that. 

​For many students, the first time they encounter the concept of subtracting a fraction from another fraction can be very confusing. This method, modeling with plastic bricks, breaks down the steps and makes it easy to understand. 

The September 2024 Lesson of the Month is taken from Brick Math Basic Fractions and includes pages from the Teacher's lesson guide and the corresponding pages from the  Student Workbook. 
Brick Math is a complete math curriculum for kindergarten through 8th grade that models the math with bricks.

The curriculum is divided into 13 separate content areas: 
Counting, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Basic Fractions, Basic Measurement, Fraction Multiplication, Fraction Division, Advanced Measurement and Geometry, Decimals, Data and Statistics, and Pre-Algebra.  

This month's free Brick Math Lesson of the Month is about Square Numbers. You may surprised to discover that it's from the Brick Math Counting and Cardinality curriculum. "Square numbers being taught so early?"  you might think. Yes! Square numbers are introduced as students are learning the concepts of counting and cardinality. To get this lesson, click here, and you'll also get a new free Brick Math lesson every month after that.

Early math learning involves developing number sense, as well as building familiarity with math vocabulary. Students at this stage are not yet learning what it means for a number to be squared; rather, they are learning to recognize patterns in the brick models they build, which lays the groundwork for more advanced math understanding later, in addition and multiplication. This lesson is a small but very meaningful step towards building math fluency.

Brick Math is a complete math curriculum for kindergarten through 8th grade that models the math with bricks. The curriculum is divided into 13 separate content areas: Counting, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Basic Fractions,   Basic Measurement, Fraction Multiplication, Fraction Division, Advanced Measurement and Geometry, Decimals, Data and Statistics, and Pre-Algebra.  

This month's free Brick Math Lesson of the Month is a game for students to play that reinforces multiplication terminology and skills. You can get the Blocks and Bricks Game, from Brick Math Multiplication, by clicking here, and you'll get a new free Brick Math lesson every month after that.

The Blocks and Bricks Game is played in pairs. Each student rolls a die twice, first to establish their multiplier and then their multiplicand. They then build blocks representing the multiplier and fill them with bricks representing the multiplicand. The directions for the game are given for the teacher to explain in the Teacher Lesson Plans and then given to the student in the Student Workbook Pages.

The Blocks and Bricks Game is a fun, non-competitive way for students to practice simple multiplication facts and their knowledge of multiplication vocabulary. It's a great summer activity to keep students enjoying math!

The free Brick Math Lesson of the Month for May is from Brick Math Addition, and it's the first time in the series that the concept of place value is introduced.  To get your free lesson on Place Value Addition, plus a new lesson each month, click here. 
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Place value is an important idea for students to learn early on. Modeling with bricks makes it easy. Here's the idea: 1x1 bricks model the ones place, 1x2 bricks model the tens place, and 1x3 bricks model the hundreds place. That's as far as we go in this lesson, but soon we will extend the place value modeling idea to thousands, ten-thousands, hundred-thousands, and more!

This lesson shows students how to model place value with bricks, and then it uses those models to show addition within the place values. Students start by modeling the numbers 25 and 123 with bricks. Once they understand the concept, they move to adding two numbers. When students model the math with bricks to show place value, the math becomes clear and concrete. 
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This lesson first shows the pages from the Addition Teacher Edition, with the step-by-step lesson guide for the teacher to follow. Then the rest of the lesson are the corresponding pages from the Student Edition, which have written instructions and give students a place to draw the models they are building. Try this lesson to introduce your students to the concept of place value. The hands-on nature of building with bricks will help them understand the meaning of place value quickly.
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Brick Math is a complete math curriculum for kindergarten through 8th grade that models the math with bricks. The curriculum is divided into 13 separate content areas: Counting, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, 
​Basic Fractions,   Basic Measurement, Fraction Multiplication, Fraction Division, Advanced Measurement and Geometry, Decimals, Data and Statistics, and Pre-Algebra. Students can start anywhere in the curriculum. It can be used as a complete math curriculum or brought in as a supplement to help students who aren't having math success with other programs.
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Brick Math works in many applications: for homeschooling, math intervention, enrichment, and as a whole-school program. Materials are simple and affordable.

For an innovative way to teach and learn K-8th grade math, check brickmath.com. The website includes videos for both teacher training and direct instruction of students. You can learn more about how Brick Math improves students' math test scores and hear what people who are using Brick Math have to say about the program. ​

Happy Spring! No April Fooling from us today -- it's time for a new FREE Brick Math Lesson of the Month! This lesson comes from Data and Statistics, which is part of the extension of the Brick Math curriculum into 7th-8th grade math subjects. It shows how to use bricks to model bar graphs and histograms, and maybe most importantly, to understand when to use the different types of graphs depending on the type of data. To get the April 2024 Brick Math Lesson of the Month, "Bar Graphs and Histograms" plus a new lesson each month, click here.  Each Lesson of the Month includes the Teacher Lesson Guide as well as the Student Workbook Pages that correspond to the lesson. 

This lesson really uses the bricks well to help students learn how to construct bar graphs and histograms when given a set of data. It reinforces a key piece of information about building graphs: that bar graphs are uses for discrete data and histograms are used for continuous data. Building graphs out of bricks and then drawing those graphs is part of the learning process that gives students confidence in their ability to represent data in graphical form.

Data and Statistics and Pre-Algebra bring the Brick Math curriculum into 7th and 8th grade math. The topics are perfect for middle school students who are learning the topics for the first time, or for students who need some help learning because a more traditional curriculum has failed them.

Brick Math is a complete math curriculum for kindergarten through 8th grade that models the math with bricks. The curriculum is divided into 13 separate content areas: Counting, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, 
​Basic Fractions,   Basic Measurement, Fraction Multiplication, Fraction Division, Advanced Measurement and Geometry, Decimals, Data and Statistics, and Pre-Algebra. Students can start anywhere in the curriculum. It can be used as a complete math curriculum or brought in as a supplement to help students who aren't having math success with other programs.