Using Speed! with Cuisenaire Rods

We built rectangles using two different colors of Cuisenaire Rods and then used skip-counting with a third color to determine how many square units were in each rectangle.

Since Speed! is a skip-counting game and Cuisenaire Rods are a math manipulative, they go great together.

The blue Cuisenaire Rods are 9 cm long and the white rods are 1 cm long.

The first rectangle consisted of eight blues and eight whites.

Since the total of a white and a blue is 10 cm, the number of square units in this rectangle was easy to calculate (8 x 10 = 80).

When the 4 cm purple rods and the 5 cm yellow rods were combined into 9 cm rods, the number of square units was more difficult to determine.

Eight rows of 9 cm lengths were used in the rectangle.

Using the Speed! cards was a unique way to determine the unit area.

On the back of box and the front of each card a visual representation of the skip-counting number chain including numbers is shown.

9 x 9 = 81 = 9 x 4 + 9 x 5 = 36 + 45

The Nine Speed deck was used to look up the 81, the Four Speed deck was used to look up the 36 and the Five Speed deck was used to look up the 45. After my daughter added 36 and 45 she was excited to learn the unit area could be determined two different ways.

Cuisenaire Rods are a great math manipulate especially for children who need to figure out concepts in order to understand and retain them and Speed! is a great companion.



* I did not receive any compensation for this recommendation (Cuisenaire Rods). I'm just a homeschooling mom who has found many products that I like. If you're interested in the products I recommend on this blog I want to make it easy for you to find them. 
** I am an Amazon associate and receive a small portion of the sales on orders made after clicking in from this site, which I promptly spend on homeschooling books and supplies for my children. 
*** Highhill Educational Supplies is my company. I am the creator of the game Speed!