Comments on: Manipulatives in Math Class Are So Worth It

By: Dan Finkel

Dan Finkel — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 17:37:13 +0000

That’s great! I love hearing the update 🙂

There’s so much you can do with the rods, especially as kids get older. You already hit on one of the easiest high leverage moves: change the value of one rod and then figure out all the others.

By: Melissa M

Melissa M — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 05:35:11 +0000

In reply to Dan Finkel. It went really well! I spent 20 minutes in K letting them play, with a little nudging by asking questions. I then ended 1st (which was the most interesting, and required the most refocusing) and 3rd with exploring the rods and asking questions. It was so easy to go harder (ok, so you, 3rd grader, figured out that 4 yellows equals 2 orange. So how much is an orange worth if a yellow is worth 7 instead of 5?) or easier for younger grades (what are all of the number pairs that make 10? Can you show me in colors?) Lots of good conversations, especially in a smaller group setting. And I was really surprised to learn that these rods are pretty much not used anymore in the classroom, other than the orange and white for placevalue lessons. I will be doing more from your Cuisenaire rod lesson library! Thanks, Dan!

By: jacquie

jacquie — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 11:36:49 +0000

Can’t wait to get back to school after the break to do this with my students – so glad that I also saved the rods from the bin years ago. Thanks Dan.

By: Dan Finkel

Dan Finkel — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 19:34:43 +0000

In reply to Melissa. We have more Cuisesnaire rod lessons in our lesson library too. They're one of the all-time great manipulatives. Hope it goes well!

By: Melissa

Melissa — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 22:15:43 +0000

I love this. I will be doing this lesson with some advanced K’s – we’ll see how far we get past playing, which seems like a great starting place. I feel lucky that at the start of this year, I received a bunch that were going to surplus, likely never to be seen again. I’m curious to see how they play. I’m so glad you posted this!

By: Dan Finkel

Dan Finkel — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 05:41:33 +0000

In reply to Mark. That's wonderful, Mark! Let me know how it goes!

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 01:50:25 +0000

Thank you so much for sharing this lesson and your takeaways. I teach preservice elementary teachers and have lots of Cuisenaire Rods. They will be doing this activity soon.