Jack The Builder

Murphy, S. (2006). Jack the Builder. HarperCollins.

Like Elevator Math, Jack the Builder is a text in the Math Start Series. Jack the Builder is about a boy who imagines what 2 blocks could build, then 3 blocks, and what about if he adds two more? This process continues until Jack is using seventeen blocks and his imagination creates spectacular creations.


Block Center
Standard: K-2 The student will demonstrate through the mathematical processes an emerging sense of quality and numeral relationships, sets, and place values.

Indicator: K-2.4 Represent simple joining and separating situations through 10.

Materials:
Blocks

Number Cards- 1-6

Jack The Builder

Procedures:
1. Before this supplement to the block center is available, the teacher will read Jack the Builder.
2. The teacher will read Jack the Builder. As the teacher reads, she will stop on each page that Jack adds more blocks. These problems will be worked out as a class. For example, the text reads, "Jack has five. This time he'll add three." The teacher will write the problem out for the students. Jack has 5 blocks and adds 3 more. How many blocks is Jack using now?
3. After the book, the teacher will tell the students that she will be adding number cards to the block area. The students will be told that they will first draw a number card. For the first time this is introduced to the class, I will only have numbers 1-6 available for the students to choose from. In order to add more blocks to their creation, the student must pick another card and add that number to their current building. This is the same process that Jack goes through in the book, except his is sequential and this center is by chance.
4. There are various ways for the students to do the addition. They could work with a partner to solve the problem, they could have scrap paper to do the math, they could count the blocks, or they could have personal white boards to help them determine how many blocks are in their new structure.
5. The only rule in this center is that you can't add more blocks until you determine how many blocks are currently in your structure.