Number Sense with Cuisenaire Rods

Although I teach second grade, I still have some kids who really need some basic number sense! These are the kids who still don't automatically "count on" when adding two numbers together, or determining the sum of two dice. They still count the dots!

These kids need more "hands-on" opportunities to get to know these numbers inside out!

I absolutely LOVE Cuisenaire Rods for helping children develop their number sense. I posted about them a while ago with THIS POST about using Cuisenaire Rods to practice math facts and fact families. I've got some kids who need to back up even further and really need to get to know the individual numbers by using these manipulatives.

It's a good idea to give the children a couple of sessions for free explorations with the Cuisenaire Rods. They'll catch on that the smallest cubes are always white, and that the longest  ones are orange. Sooner or later, they'll figure out the "staircase". From the staircase, they'll figure out the value of each color, so it's a good idea to start them off by building a staircase from this point on.

I've put together a few exercises with the Cuisenaire Rods to help build number sense. Click HERE or click the image to the right for a sample on the number 5 (the yellow rod).

If you're interested in more activities for the other colored rods, see the image below or see here: Number Sense With Cuisenaire Rods

 

I have also developed a resource for Cuisenaire Rods to help the little ones learn Math Facts with fact families.

And yes... there's another set. This is the most popular with the kiddos: Once they develop number sense and know fact families, they can build with the rods and practice adding multiple addends!  See it here: Cuisenaire Rods Build it and Add!

You want them all! Yes, there's a bundle, and it's available at an enormous discount!

 See the above image for the bundle!   HERE!

Learning Math Facts With Cuisenaire Rods

Brain Research tells us that being physically involved with the learning process helps learning. 

It also suggests that use of color helps make connections. 

Teachers know that kids (and adults) tend to key into color, and children love to use manipulatives!

 

With Cuisenaire Rods (see picture) the white rod, the smallest, is one cubic centimeter.(This is the same size as a standard base ten block.) The longest rod is orange. When the children put the rods by length, they make a colorful "staircase". (See picture.)

 

 

The children can then assign values to each rod by color based on the relationship of the other rods.

I like to start with sets of ten, since our number system is based on ten.  It's good for them to know those combinations of ten!

 

Since the orange rod has a value of 10, this
picture shows 9+1=10. It also shows 1+9=10.  

It also shows 10-1=9 as well as 10-9=1.

 

What fact family do these blocks show?  6+4=10, 4+6=10, 10-6=4, and 10-4=6.  

 







This one shows 6+6=12 and 12-6=6

 



 The Cuisenaire Rods can also be used for multiple addends or even multiplication.  This could be 3+3+3+3=12 or 3x4=12.

When it comes to storage, the containers the rods come in are tricky for the kids to put away.  I put my Cuisenaire Rods into a container much easier for little hands.

I made these center sheets for the students. I prefer the children work with partners on activities like this since the conversations they have help the learning.  If you run these off back to back, you can make two-sided, half-size papers.

Click the image or click here for the sample: Fact Families with Cuisenaire Rods Sample!

For more sheets like this, click here: Fact Families with Cuisenaire Rods

I also have a resource to develop Number Sense with Cuisenaire Rods that can be found HERE.

Plus, a chance to build with the rods and add up the sums with multiple addends HERE. (This one is a favorite... they LOVE building with the rods!)

All these resources can be found as a bundled set HERE.

For a more advanced bundle of place value activities see: HERE.