1
Staircases
Compare and describe rod lengths without assigning number values.
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Cuisenaire Task Library
Practical teaching sequences for exploring mathematical relationships with Cuisenaire rods — designed for professional learning and live classroom use.
14 tasks
2
Trains
Join rods end to end, name the structure and begin to record it symbolically.
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3
Equivalence
Different-looking constructions can have exactly the same length.
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4
Smaller, bigger, equal
Compare single rods and trains using relational language before formal inequality notation.
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5
Complements
Find the part needed to complete one length to another.
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6
Difference
See the difference as the physical gap between two lengths and record it compactly.
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7
Trains of one colour
Investigate which lengths can be composed from repeated equal rods, and what remains when they cannot.
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8
Odds and Evens
Move from physical definitions to conjecture, generalisation and proof.
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9
Representing Fractions
Choose a whole and describe every other rod through its relationship to that whole.
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10
Multiples and Lowest Common Multiple
Use single-colour trains to model multiples, find where different sequences first meet, and connect this to an efficient method for finding the LCM.
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11
White Isn’t Always One
Change the rod that represents one whole and see how every other value changes while the relationships between the rods remain fixed.
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12
Improper Fractions to Mixed Numbers
Count in unit fractions, regroup complete wholes and see why division with a remainder gives the mixed number.
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13
Mixed Numbers to Improper Fractions
Replace each whole with unit fractions to see why whole × denominator + numerator counts the total number of parts.
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14
Fractions on a Number Line
Use rods to build equal intervals, then withdraw the rods and reason about fraction magnitude between 0 and 1.
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