Manipulative Blog

Manipulative Blog
When using manipulatives, students have the opportunity to see the problem in different ways. They can analyze the problem and see the different ways of solving it. They can create a more relatable situation out of the problem using manipulatives. Using objects such as pattern blocks show students that the surface area of one shape is the same as a number of the others by comparing the shapes. There is a level of synthesis where students take their existing math knowledge and combine it with the manipulatives to create a solution. While the answers to many of the math questions (in this case) are the same, the process of creating the solution using objects can be an opportunity for creativity. Manipulatives help students justify their answer because they can see a physical object change is some way. Students gain a deeper understanding while using manipulatives because they are thinking in an analytical, synthetic and evaluative way. This knowledge is seen by the teacher through observation, interviewing and prompting questions. As we used manipulatives in class, Dr. Grant walked around the room looking at how we used the objects. She placed the manipulatives in certain ways and prompted us with high order of thinking questions to see if we could apply our knowledge. In one word I would say manipulatives are a way for students to communicate.
I believe that all types of learners benefit from using manipulatives and this is why. Kinesthetic learners can recall how they physically manipulated the objects. By creating the object, sequence or equation with objects, they can recreate it on paper or with available objects. Visual learners will remember using the objects, colors and shapes may help recall the math skill. Auditory learners may recall conversations about justification and problem solving while using them. These strategies will become practiced skills that can be recalled in any problem. Students could perform a task with the manipulatives in front of them and then perform it again without them in front of them to see if they would recall the strategies.
As mentioned before observation, interviewing (during manipulative exercises) and prompting questions/responses can give the teacher a solid idea of the students understanding. The other way to assess if manipulatives are beneficial to a student is to have an assessment with and then without manipulatives (both showing work) and compare work and scores to see the strengths and weaknesses. Students can also draw pictures or write justifications/processes down so that the teacher can see how the students were using them.
To touch on accountability among members in a partnership or team, a good example of shared work is what we did in class, changing recorders. By having each member responsible to write at some point, steers students towards a focus on the work needed to be done along with the engagement of the manipulatives. In a longer problem set, different parts could be delegated to different students, with a regrouping stage at the end. This would put responsibility on each student to work towards finding the solution.
Going off the idea above, if each student were responsible for their own part of the larger problem they could be assessed upon their individual work and the group work in general. Another way to assess students individually is if each student creates a problem with the manipulatives (first part of assessment). Second part of the assessment would be to work on perfecting their activity. The third part would be to solve another student’s activity. The three parts of the assignment would show the depth of understanding because it asks the students to use the manipulatives in at least two different ways. It is one thing to use them to solve a problem but it shows a different understanding if students can use them to create.
By incorporating manipulatives into the curriculum students are looking at problem solving as concepts and relationships and different sections instead of as one confusing problem. They can break down the problem into steps applying rules and strategies to each stage instead of making mistakes throughout.