Pretty Blocks are Distracting but worth it

I meant to use the pattern blocks to show some multiplication with fractions (a  hexagon is a whole, triangle a sixth, trapezoid a half, parallelogram a third).  But it’s been a while since we’ve pulled out the blocks.

I forgot that they are pretty.

Aunt Paula says always give your students time to goof off with manipulatives before teaching with them.

so K made a Minecraft style arsenal.

and then we got back to fractions.  She build the palace while I read her the history lesson.

Thanks Aunt Paula, it could have been a very frustrating morning, but we got everything in, the fractions made sense, and no one cried.