Page 5 - Six_Bricks_Activity_Mats_Teacher_Guide

Introduction

The Six Bricks concept was developed by Brent Hutcheson and the Care for Education team in South Africa,
primarily as a tool to promote the use of concrete manipulatives in early learning settings and across the
primary school.

Six Bricks is essentially a play-based pedagogy centred on six different colours of LEGO
®
DUPLO 2x4 stud bricks. The six bricks comprise a green, a red, an orange, a light blue, a dark blue and
®
a yellow. When the six DUPLO bricks are clicked together in that colour order, they are referred to as a
®
GROBBY, with each letter of GROBBY representing one of the six colours.

Here at CPD College Ireland, we have continued to innovate the Six Bricks concept and build on the work of
the Care for Education team in South Africa. The results are a suite of new curriculum resources, primarily
for literacy and mathematics. Introduction

The new materials consist of Six Bricks A3 Activity Mats which children will have on their tables, together
with a set of Six Bricks. The mats are replicated within the Six Bricks Interactive Whiteboard Software
which all teachers can access at www.sixbrickseducation.com. The bricks, mats and software, when used
together, are a potent force for learning.

The Six Bricks A3 Activity Mats are designed to support teaching, learning and assessment across key skills
and concepts. We hope that the practical hands-on nature of the activities will drive student engagement
with learning and support the achievement of even better learning outcomes across key areas of literacy
and mathematics.

This Teacher Guide contains essential ideas, suggestions and tips on ways to effectively use the mats in
your classroom to support pupil learning. They can be used individually, in pairs or in groups. We trust that
you will find the initial ideas both novel and practical. You too can tap into your creative side, to build on
our work and find even more innovative ways to effectively incorporate these materials into teaching and
learning in your classroom.

In addition to the teacher notes contained in this guide for each of the Six Bricks A3 Activity Mats, there is a
growing wealth of materials now available that contextualises Six Bricks into education and curriculum. As
new materials become available, they will be featured on www.sixbrickseducation.com.

For now, we trust that both you and your students will enjoy working with your Six Bricks materials and
reap a rich educational dividend in the process.

Wishing you every success with your Six Bricks resources.

CPD College Education Team.

SixBrickseducation.com 5

16-06-2021 21:37:38
Six Bricks Activity Mats Teacher Guide.indd 5 16-06-2021 21:37:38
Six Bricks Activity Mats Teacher Guide.indd 5