The purpose of this activity is for students to learn Stage 4 of the Pattern Blocks center within the context of the Warm-up. Students practice recognizing written numbers and counting out a given number of objects. They put together pattern blocks to make objects of their choice. Students then compare the number of different pattern blocks they use to make their object.

In this activity, students put together pattern blocks to create a quilt. Consider taking pictures of the designs that students create and combining them to make a class quilt. Students may or may not put the pattern blocks together to look like something specific, such as a boat or a square. The recording sheet is printed in the student book for this activity. The blackline master is available for students to use during center activities in future lessons.

• Invite students to share the patterns they made. 
• Display two student-created patterns. 
• “What is the same about the patterns? What is different about them?” (Both have 3 green triangles. They used the same shapes, but they put them together in a different way. One looks like it has a smiley face in the middle.)
• “Are there more green triangle pattern blocks or blue pattern blocks? How do you know?”

The purpose of this activity is for students to use pattern blocks to fill in simple puzzles. Students need to be more precise in arranging the pattern blocks because the pattern blocks touch at the sides and the corners. The puzzles are printed in black and white so that students are not able to determine which pattern block to use based only on color. A blackline master with more puzzles is available for students to use during this activity.

When students make connections between the pattern blocks and the shapes outlined in the puzzle, they show their ability to reason abstractly and quantitatively (MP2).

• “How did you know which pattern blocks would fit?”
• Display the first puzzle filled in with pattern blocks:

  

• “What question can you ask about this shape, using the word ‘fewer’?” (Are there fewer green triangle pattern blocks or fewer tan pattern blocks? Are there fewer green triangle pattern blocks or yellow pattern blocks?)

The purpose of this activity is for students to choose from activities that offer practice with building shapes and putting them together to form larger shapes.

Students choose from any stage of previously introduced centers:

• Geoblocks
• Build Shapes
• Pattern Blocks
• Fewer, Same, More

Students will choose from these centers throughout the section. Keep materials from these centers organized to use each day.

• Invite a student who built a shape out of straws to share.
• Invite a student who put together pattern blocks to share.
• “What is the same about the shapes we built with straws and the shapes we created when we put together pattern blocks? What is different?”