As a child, math was always my least favorite subject, but Alycia Zimmerman, a 3rd-grade teacher from New York, found a way to make it fun using LEGO math. By incorporating hands-on learning, students were able to grasp concepts like fractions and multiplication more easily. This approach also helped them develop spatial and proportional awareness.
Making Learning Fun
Marcus Blackwell, a math teacher at the Utopian Academy in Atlanta, also made math exciting by teaching it through music. By merging the arts with math, students became interested and even learned their favorite songs using math!
LEGO Math Lessons
Part-part-total thinking
Starting with basic numbers like five or six and gradually building up to ten, students learned to compose and decompose numbers using LEGO bricks. The clearly marked studs on the bricks helped them recognize arrangements without counting, making addition and subtraction easier.
Colorful arrays
LEGO’s variety of colors allowed students to visually differentiate between blocks, making it effective for teaching multiplication, square roots, and division. By combining bricks and creating arrays, students could understand concepts more easily with the help of color-coding.
Mean, median, mode and range
Explaining averages like mean, median, mode, and range became simpler through LEGO towers of varying heights. By stacking and breaking down towers, students could better grasp the concept of averages.
Fractions
Visualizing fractions with LEGO bricks helped students understand complex concepts in a tangible way. The varied sizes and shapes of the bricks made it easier for students to grasp fractions compared to traditional methods.
LEGO Teaching Tips
Encourage kids to explore and play with LEGO bricks to spark their imagination before diving into the lesson. Creating custom kits with labeled pieces for each assignment can help students stay focused and organized. Learning should be fun, engaging, and educational, and LEGO bricks are a perfect tool to achieve all three!
