Math // Geometry

Patterns & Sequences

Order and arrange combinations of mathematical objects in patterns and sequences

Ages
6 to 7
Type
Method
Builds on
2 topics
Leads to
0 topics
Standards
1 code

Quick check

Can the learner spot a repeating pattern made of shapes or objects and continue it, or create their own repeating pattern?

Ask this to see whether the topic is secure.

Topic // Mastery

What mastery looks like

What a learner can do once this topic is secure.
  • Continue a repeating pattern of shapes or colours
  • Describe the rule for a given sequence of objects
  • Create own patterns and sequences using mathematical objects

Topic // Map

Where this fits

What to learn first and what this topic opens up, with the reason for each link. Required links come first.
  • RequiredMust come first
  • HelpfulHelps, but not essential

Before this

2 topics
  • Rote counting to 100Helpful

    Counting & Cardinality // Ages 5 to 6

    Number sequence experience supports recognising patterns and sequences

  • Counting in 2sHelpful

    Counting & Cardinality // Ages 5 to 7

    Skip counting patterns support general pattern recognition

You are here

Patterns & Sequences

Ages 6 to 7 // Method

Leads to

0 topics

Nothing in the catalogue builds on this topic yet. Browse Geometry

Topic // Research-informed

Teaching notes

From the Marble Skill Taxonomy. These notes have not been validated in classrooms, so treat them as a starting point for your own judgement.

The approach

Patterns and sequences teaching should move children beyond 'what comes next' to seeing a pattern as made of a repeating UNIT. The telling skills are abstracting a pattern onto new materials and identifying the smallest repeating unit — both of which, according to Rittle-Johnson et al. (2013), cannot be done by visual matching alone and so reveal genuine structural understanding rather than surface copying. Build, extend, abstract, and isolate the unit, using units beyond simple AB (ABB, AAB, ABC) because children over-rely on alternation.

Common misconceptions

  • Extends a pattern by visually matching and appending the last item, without grasping that there is a repeating unit.
  • Reverts to a simple AB pattern when the model unit is longer (makes ABAB for an ABB model).
  • Produces a partially correct pattern — one full unit plus extra items that break the unit.

Useful representations

  • Colour/shape cube or bead strings
  • The unit of repeat circled or boxed
  • ABB / AAB units contrasted with AB
  • 'Same, same, different' labelling of the unit
  • Number sequences and skip-counting as patterns

Teaching practices

  • Shift the focus from 'what comes next' to structure: name and circle the unit of repeat, not just append the next item.
  • Use abstraction tasks — recreate the same kind of pattern with different materials or colours — which force attention to structure because visual matching won't work.
  • Ask for the smallest unit ('what is the smallest tower that still keeps the pattern?') to assess unit identification, the hardest and most telling skill.
  • Include units beyond simple AB (ABB, AAB, ABC), because children over-rely on alternation; watch for them reverting to AB.
  • Model 'same, same, different' language and 'start over' framing to make the repeating unit explicit.

Activities to try

  1. 1

    Build, extend, and name the unit of repeat

    Why it works: A repeating pattern is built from a unit that repeats; the pattern is the unit, not just the next item you could add.

    1. Continue a given model pattern, e.g. red, blue, blue, red, blue, blue, red, blue, blue — carry it on further with cubes, beads, or drawn shapes.
    2. Circle or box the part that repeats and say where the pattern 'starts over'.
    3. Name which items are the SAME and which is DIFFERENT: for red, blue, blue the two blues are the same and the red is the different cube that starts the chunk (spoken in order: different, same, same). The plain 'same, same, different' chant maps most cleanly to a two-same-then-different unit such as AAB.
  2. 2

    Abstract the same KIND of pattern onto new materials

    Why it works: Making the 'same kind' of pattern means reproducing the STRUCTURE (one cube, then two matching cubes, then start over), not the colours — abstraction that colour matching alone cannot accomplish.

    1. Given a red-blue-blue model, use a different set (e.g. green and yellow cubes) to make 'the same KIND of pattern' — green, yellow, yellow, repeated.
    2. Lay the new pattern directly under the model and check unit-for-unit: count how many yellows come before the next green.
    3. Explain why your new pattern is the same kind even though the colours are different.
  3. 3

    Shrink to the smallest tower that keeps the pattern

    Why it works: The smallest arrangement that preserves the pattern IS the unit of repeat; isolating it is the clearest sign of understanding structure.

    1. From a repeating pattern, build the smallest tower that still has the same pattern (for red-blue-blue, the three-cube unit red, blue, blue).
    2. Decide whether removing cubes keeps or breaks the pattern, and explain why.
    3. Try the same with AAB and ABC units, not just AB.

Topic // Standards

Curriculum standards

Codes for the curriculum statements this topic maps to. Each publisher owns its standard text.
The national curriculum in England: Key stages 1 and 2 framework document
Maths/Y2/GPD/1

Math // Geometry

More in Geometry

All 69 topics