Teaching Children Mathematics / April 2004 421 EARLY CHILDHOOD CORNER Douglas H. Clements and Julie Sarama “I ’m first today!” “Then I want to be second. You gotta be third, Joon.” Most teachers agree that they should use rou- tines such as “lining up” and traditional objects such as blocks for learning. Realizing the full potential in such daily opportunities, however, is not always easy. This article presents some of the “everywhere, every time” activities from the Building Blocks project. We describe how teachers integrate these daily activities with a whole group, a small group, and a center; dis- cuss the software activities in the curriculum; and provide suggestions for using daily activi- ties effectively. The Building Blocks Approach In a previous Teaching Children Mathematics arti- cle (Sarama and Clements 2003), we described the basic features of the Building Blocks approach, including the research on which it is based. Build- ing Blocks is designed to enable all young chil- dren to build solid content knowledge and develop higher-order thinking. Our main mathematical building blocks are number and quantitative com- petencies and geometric and spatial competencies. Three themes are woven throughout: patterns, sorting and sequencing, and measurement and data. The Building Blocks name has two other meanings (see fig. 1). One meaning is that cogni- tive processes—from moving or combining shapes to higher-order thinking processes—also are important to mathematics learning. The final meaning is the most straightforward: Children should use building blocks for many purposes, but one important purpose is for learning mathemat- ics. In this way, “everywhere, every time” activi- ties are essential to the Building Blocks approach, which entails finding the mathematics in, and developing mathematics from, children’s activi- ties. We want to help children extend and mathe- matize all their daily activities, from building with blocks to doing art projects, singing songs, and reading stories. Stories We recommend that teachers follow established book-reading practices. For example, encourage children to look carefully at the book itself, dis- cuss their ideas about what the book might be about, and note the author and illustrator. Then read the book without interrupting with questions or comments. While you read, sit so that every- one can see the illustrations, and read smoothly, dramatically, and with a sense of humor as appro- priate. After reading, help children make connec- tions between the story and their own experi- ences, ask open-ended questions, and build vocabulary. Next, bring the mathematics out of the book by rereading parts of it and engaging in related activities. In many books, the connections are clear. For example, The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Carle 1983) eats from one to five items of food . . . and more! Return to the pages in which the caterpillar eats one to five items, show only one Mathematics Everywhere, Every Time Douglas Clements, clements@buffalo.edu, is a professor at the University of Buffalo, SUNY. He conducts research on young children’s thinking and learning and develops curriculum and software for preschool through elementary school. He was an author of NCTM’s Principles and Standards for School Mathematics. Julie Sarama, jsarama@buffalo.edu, is an associate pro- fessor at the University of Buffalo and conducts research and develops curriculum for mathe- matics for children in preschool to high school. She is currently directing or codirecting sev- eral projects funded by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Education. Edited by Julie Sarama, jsarama@buffalo.edu, and Douglas Clements, clements@buffalo .edu, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14260. This department addresses the early childhood teacher’s need to support young children’s emerging mathematics under- standings and skills in a context that conforms with current knowledge about the way in which children in prekindergarten and kindergarten learn mathematics. Readers are encouraged to send manuscripts for this section to “Early Childhood Corner,” NCTM, 1906 Association Dr., Reston, VA 20191-1502. Copyright © 2004 The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Inc. www.nctm.org. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed electronically or in any other format without written permission from NCTM.