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Tower of Ten

Girl Building a Tower of Ten with SumBlox Number Blocks

Sample Lesson 3

From Early Childhood Activity Cards

Step One 

Explain that in order to build the tower we need walls of equal height.

Suggest the '10 block' as the height of the walls.

    		 Tower of Ten SumBlox Base
    Tower of Ten First Floor SumBlox

    Step Two

    Take turns adding combinations of ten to the wall.

    • Improves understanding of equivalence.
    • Repetition helps children remember the various combinations of ten.
    • Once you complete your base, lay blocks across the top, to build the next floor of your tower on.
     

    Step Three

    Review: Offer the students a block and ask them what other block you need to make ten.

    Allow the students to enjoy building the tower as tall as they can. You can introduce the larger scale numbers as students graduate from 10 to 20 to 30.

    		 Finished Tower of Ten with Math Blocks

     

    Summary

    This group activity gives students the opportunity to work together to build a large tower using number combinations that add up to 10. Keep the excitement high by encouraging the students to use every block available and to stack as high as they can.

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