• Number: Counting, Place Value
Building Understanding and Fluency in Addition and Subtraction with basic facts and beyond
Bond Blocks are a new, innovative manipulative developed by Narelle Rice and supported by Dr Paul Swan. There are a few key features of Bond Blocks:
- The blocks are not scored, reducing the tendency to simply count.
- The natural wood colour of the sustainably-sourced New Zealand Pine reduces distraction of colourful plastic and focuses children on the numbers.
- Ten is represented with two different blocks: the Linear Ten and an Empty Ten Frame, similar to a ten strip and ten frame.
- They are a ratio of one unit : 2 cm making them easy to manipulate.
- They are self-checking, encouraging number sense and estimation.
There’s a lot you can do with just the Blocks themselves, but the Bond Blocks are also part of a larger Bond Blocks system comprised of Games, Assessment Materials and Teacher Notes. Lessons on the Bond Blocks system are publically accessible at www.bondblocks.com
Bond Blocks Videos
Using Bond Blocks
Bond Blocks include two of each linear block 1 to 9, four linear 10 blocks, two blank five blocks and a marked and blank empty ten frame block.
The earliest stages of counting with Bond Blocks include counting forwards, building a set of steps from 1 to 10 where students touch the block, physically moving down the steps. Eventually the student begins to count along covered numbers and starts at points other than one.
Typical Classroom Requirements
A class set:
One set of Bond Blocks between 2 or 4 students.
A class of 32 will need 8 or 16 sets of Bond Blocks
Support and Complementary Materials
Bond Blocks has a complementary series of materials including 106 board games and assessment materials.
The Bond Block System targets:
- Fluency with number bonds, leading to recall, to add and subtract to 20.
- Robust understanding of addition and subtraction concepts, and relationships between them.
- Flexible, efficient calculating strategies.
- Number concepts including place value.
- Mathematical reasoning and problem solving.
More information
See the official Bond Blocks Website www.bondblocks.com