Creating and Extending Patterns
Students recognize repeating units, extend simple patterns, describe pattern rules, and create patterns with objects, movements, sounds, and numbers.
Illustrations are auto-generated and may be placeholders. They can be refreshed to match the narration.
Recognizing What Repeats
A pattern follows a rule. In a repeating pattern, a small part happens again and again in the same order. Use colored cubes to build red, blue, red, blue, red, blue. The part that repeats is red, blue. Touch each cube while saying its color so students can hear and see the repetition. Then show red, red, yellow, red, red, yellow. This pattern has a different repeating part: red, red, yellow. Ask students to find where one repeat ends and the next begins. Recognizing the repeating unit helps students predict what should come next instead of making a random guess.
Extending a Pattern
To extend a pattern, first identify its rule and then continue it in the same way. Look at a sequence of shapes such as circle, square, circle, square. Since the rule alternates circle and square, the next shape must be a circle. Students can place a circle card at the end and explain their choice. Try patterns with three parts, such as clap, tap, stomp, clap, tap, stomp. After the final stomp, the next movement is clap because the repeating unit begins again. Students should check the entire pattern after extending it. Reading the completed sequence aloud makes it easier to notice an item that does not follow the rule.
Describing the Rule
A pattern rule tells how a pattern is made. Students can describe a rule with words instead of naming only the next item. For example, in star, heart, heart, star, heart, heart, the rule is one star followed by two hearts. Saying the rule allows another person to build the same pattern. Encourage useful words such as repeat, next, before, after, one, and two. A movement pattern might have the rule two claps and one jump. Perform clap, clap, jump several times to test the rule. If the actions always repeat in that order, the description is correct. Explaining rules develops mathematical language and careful observation.
Creating and Fixing Patterns
Students can create their own patterns with blocks, pictures, sounds, or movements. Begin by choosing a short repeating unit and showing it at least three times. For example, choose green, green, orange and build green, green, orange, green, green, orange, green, green, orange. Ask a partner to identify the rule and extend the pattern. Students can also find an error in a pattern. In triangle, circle, triangle, square, triangle, circle, the square breaks the alternating rule and should be a circle. Discuss why the replacement fixes the pattern. Creating and correcting patterns shows that students understand the rule rather than simply copying nearby objects.