making the most of math manipulatives
TRANSCRIPT
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