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Bond Blocks
An Australian Mathematics Teaching and Intervention System
From Counting to Addition and Subtraction
Upcoming Bond Blocks PL Dates
Award Winning
Bond Blocks – Winner of the 2022 Educational
Publishing Awards
Primary Student Resource Category
What Is the Bond Blocks System?
The Bond Blocks system has two uses:
- Whole class teaching (Tier 1): teaching well initially in order to reduce the number of students who need intervention efforts
- Maths Intervention (Tier 2 and 3 Intervention): in small groups or with pairs of students to build up foundational skills.
Informed by research using evidence-based methodology, developed by Australian teacher Narelle Rice together with Dr Paul Swan.
Bond Blocks System
How you can get this award-winning system implemented into your teaching, whether your needs are Tier 1 Classroom teaching for Pre-Foundation to Year 3 or Tier 2 and 3 Intervention from Pre-Foundation to Year 7:
Class Teaching
Suitable as a Tier 1 Class Teaching resource for
Pre-Foundation.
Intervention
Suitable as a Tier 2 & 3 Mathematics Intervention resource for
Pre-Foundation to Year 7.
Class Teaching
Suitable as a Tier 1 Class Teaching resource for
Foundation.
Intervention
Suitable as a Tier 2 & 3 Mathematics Intervention resource for
Foundation to Year 7.
Year 1 to Year 3 Content
Class Teaching
The Bond Blocks Core Kit provides a whole-school approach to Tier 1 classroom teaching from Year 1 to Year 3
in Counting and Addition/Subtraction.
Intervention
The Bond Blocks Core Kit is also suitable as a Tier 2 & 3 Mathematics Intervention resource for Year 1 to Year 7+ in Counting and Addition/Subtraction. See the features list below for more details.
Features
The Bond Blocks materials have been created with all the extras required to support good teaching and intervention.
Bond Blocks Pre-Foundation and Foundation Counting Kits
Pre-Foundation (Age 4)
Foundation (Age 5)
Target counting skills identified by research as key predictors of difficulties in maths at this stage of development as assessed in early years state testing with student led play, guided play and teacher led instruction.
- EYLF aligned
- Curriculum linked (AC, ABLEWA, Vic A-D) & sequenced
- Assessment skills checklists
- Monitoring tools
- Created with evidence-based metholodogy
- Differentiated
- Developed to support learning difficulties
- Explicit teaching
- Mathematical language specified
- Concrete-representational-abstract approach
Bond Blocks Core Kit
- Placement test
- Monitoring tools
- Created with evidence-based metholodogy
- Curriculum linked & sequenced
- Differentiated
- Developed to support learning difficulties
- Explicit teaching
- Whole school approach
- Support for regional schools
- Support for Educational Assistants through video lessons
- Australian Curriculum Version 9 Ready
Years 1 - 3 Addition & Subtraction
(Tier 1) - Bond Blocks as a School-wide Prevention Solution
A whole-school approach to Tier 1 teaching from Pre-Foundation to Year 3 in Counting and Addition/Subtraction.
Years 1 - 3 Addition & Subtraction
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Handy pre-configured kits for single and double stream schools available:
(Tier 2 & 3) - Bond Blocks as an Intervention Solution
Intervention (Tier 2 and 3) working with a group of up to 4 students at one time.
Years 1 - 3 Addition & Subtraction
pre-configured kit:
Bond Blocks for Tutoring / Homeschooling
Using Bond Blocks as teaching system at home or with tutoring students.
Years 1 - 3 Addition & Subtraction
pre-configured kit:
Over 100 specific activities
in the Core Intervention Kit
The Bond Blocks Maths Intervention Program is fully sequenced, Australian Curriculum linked and follows a Concrete-Representational-Abstract approach.
Every activity is completed on one A3 board by an individual student or pair.
Activity boards are reusable and ready-to-go with minimal equipment and setup.
Complete one activity a week. All you need is approximately 8 minutes, 3 times a week.
Every activity has its own publicly accessible webpage, where the activity is:
- modelled in a short video for consistent, school wide teaching.
- explained with specified mathematics and language.
- differentiated ‘a little easier’ or ‘a little harder’.
The Support:
Teaching Modelled in Video
- Explicit teaching of the activity
- Demonstrating to teachers how to link the mathematical manipulative, the language and symbols
Differentiations – Done!
- Free downloads and website instructions to make the activity a little easier or harder
Activity Instructions, Assessments, Monitoring, Teacher Notes
Example of an activity video
How to administer the assessment
The Blocks
- Bond Blocks are not scored, with individual
unit lines. They are a representational
manipulative that supports students to
move from counting to calculating with
numbers. - The length of the block helps student
develop the concept of a mental number
line. - The natural wood, sustainably-sourced New Zealand Pine, reduces distraction of colourful plastic and focuses children on the written numerals.
- Ten is represented with two different blocks: Linear Ten and an Empty Ten Frame, similar to a ten strip and ten frame.
- They are a ratio of one unit : 2 cm making them easy to manipulate.
- They are self-checking, encouraging number sense and estimation.
There’s a lot you can do with just the Blocks themselves and the Bond Blocks Out of the Box book, but the activity boards (included in the Core Intervention Kit) let you do so much more.
An Australian Maths Intervention Program Developed:
- Based on research
- With extensive classroom trials and teacher feedback
- In partnership with Dr Paul Swan (www.drpaulswan.com.au)
- By a Western Australian teacher
Testimonials
Whether you’re a teacher or homeschooling parent you can be sure Bond Blocks will be an effective tool
Aims of the Bond Blocks Maths Intervention Program
Use the Bond Block System to develop:
- Fluency with number bonds, leading to recall.
- Addition and subtraction to 20 and beyond.
- Robust understandings of addition and subtraction concepts, and relationships between them.
- Flexible, efficient calculating strategies.
- Number concepts including place value.
- Mathematical reasoning and problem solving.
Take a moment to check out the site
Check out what a lesson looks like or peruse our FAQ. There are also fantastic support materials in our teacher notes section, including a 3-page document asking the question “Is the Bond Blocks Maths Intervention Program evidence-based?” which helps demystify what ‘evidence-based’ does and does not mean.
Or, take a look at what assessment materials you get along with this fantastic maths intervention support program that is now used across Australia.