making the most of math manipulatives

Making the Most of Math

Manipulatives

April 1, 2016

Clare Wurm, Consultant

State Education Resource Center

Connecticut

Today’s Agenda

• Why use manipulatives?

• How to use manipulatives?

• What manipulatives to use?

• Practice!

Math Manipulatives

Do you currently use any math manipulatives?

What kind?

Why Use Manipulatives?

• Recommended by math experts

• Aligns with CCSS

• C-R-A Instruction

• Motivating and Engaging

Why Use Manipulatives?

Position Statement of 2013:

“In order to develop every student’s mathematical

proficiency, leaders and teachers must

systematically integrate the use of concrete and

virtual manipulatives into classroom instruction at

all grade levels.”

- -National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics

Why Use Manipulatives?

p. 78 Principles to Actions, NCTM, 2014

Recommendation 5.

Intervention materials should include opportunities

for students to work with visual representations of

mathematical ideas and interventionists should be

proficient in the use of visual representations of

mathematical ideas.

Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Response to

Intervention (RtI) for Elementary and Middle Schools.

What Works Clearinghouse

Why Use Manipulatives?

Why Use Manipulatives?

I hear and I forget. I see and I

remember. I do and I understand.

- Confucious

Example:

Newton’s Third Law of Motion:

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The statement means that in every interaction, there is a pair of forces acting on the two interacting objects. The size of the forces on the first object equals the size of the force on the second object.

Why Use Manipulatives?

Common Core State Standards for Mathematics

1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.

3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of

others.

4. Model with mathematics.

5. Use appropriate tools strategically.

6. Attend to precision.

7. Look for and make use of structure.

8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

PR

AC

TIC

ES

:

Why Use Manipulatives?

Common Core State Standards for Mathematics

1. Make sense of problems and persevere in

solving them.

2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.

3. Construct viable arguments and critique the

reasoning of others.

4. Model with mathematics.

PR

AC

TIC

ES

:

5. Use appropriate tools strategically.

6. Attend to precision.

7. Look for and make use of structure.

8. Look for and express regularity in repeated

reasoning.

PR

AC

TIC

ES

:

Why Use Manipulatives?

Common Core State Standards for Mathematics

Why Use Manipulatives?

C-R-A

Concrete Representational Abstract

C-R-A

Concrete =

Math concept is modeled with

concrete (physical) materials

C-R-A

Representational =

Math concept is modeled with

representational examples (e.g.

drawing, diagram, tally marks)

C-R-A

Abstract =

Math concept is modeled with

numbers and symbols

C-R-A

Beneficial for students with

disabilities…

and for ALL students.

Why use manipulatives?

Which would YOU rather do?

Classroom Example

Watch the video. What do you notice

about the use of manipulatives?

How to Use Manipulatives

How to Use Manipulatives

• Use regularly.

• Let students mess with materials first.

• Use before teaching algorithm.

How to Use Manipulatives

• Use various manipulatives for the

same math concept.

• Have students draw manipulatives in

their solution.

• Use manipulatives as basis of math

conversation or writing.

How to Use Manipulatives

• Connect the more abstract math concept

to the manipulatives as student learns.

• Let the manipulatives serve the math, not

the other way around.

Examples

• Counting tiles

• Cuisenaire Rods

• Unifix Cubes

• Algebra Tiles

Thank you!

Continue the great work you do with our

students. You make a difference!

Thank you!

Contact me at:

Clare Wurm

25 Industrial Park Road

Middletown, CT, 06457

860-632-1485 x383

wurm@ctserc.org