Virtual Math Manipulatives

I was glancing through the Journal of Special Education Technology and came upon an article on virtual math manipulatives. The virtual manipulatives are intriguing, providing practice and feedback at little to no cost. There is no clean up and kids have access at home. Below are the recommended websites from the article along with some examples.















Check out some of the sites:
National Library of Virtual Manipulatives - http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html
Virtual Fractions - http://visualfractions.com/
NCTM Illuminations - http://illuminations.nctm.org/
Project Interactive - http://www.shodor.org/interactivate
Base-Ten Blocks -http://www.arcytech.org/java/b10blocks/b10blocks.html

















Skylar, A. (2008). Virtual manipulatives as an assistive technology support for students with high-incidence disabilities. Journal of Special Education Technology, 23(1), 47-5

Comments

Unknown said…
Most children need hands-on, concrete, experiences in math in order to make connections and understand math at a deeper level. Unfortunately, many middle school and secondary teachers see manipulatives as "elementary." Hopefully with these virtual manipulatives, more students will have more hands-on experiences.
September 11, 2008 at 12:13 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Controversy Over Cursive

Image
Twenty years ago ---- eek that's how long it has been since I graduated from high school, cursive was a given in the curriculum. Teachers used it, students had to be able to read it and write it. I can remember copying copious notes from the board in cursive. A lot has changed in those two decades. I now reserve cursive for signing checks and other documents. I rarely find I need to read something in cursive, other than perhaps a name. Typing, however, has become an absolute necessity. How important is cursive? With all the content that has been added, not to mention accountability.... how valuable is it? Do we need to spend time as early as third grade on teaching cursive? What do you think? Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocherdraco/88217480/
Read more

Planning for Differentiation

Image
An article in the Washington Post, Schools Look At Providing More Time For Teachers caught my eye recently which looks at teacher planning time. As you might imagine, teachers feel they lack planning time.... and they may have a point. The amount of planning time has stayed constant while requirements for inclusion and accountability have increased. My question is do we design curriculum to address these challenges from the onset or do we expect teachers to plan lessons, adjust their instruction for a variety of diverse learners, grade assignments, connect with parents and other colleagues, make copies in a 40 minute planning period? Why not differentiate the curriculum from the beginning? The graphic to the left depicts the Curriculum Planning Pyramid (Schumm, Vaughn, & Leavell, 1994) which represents how curriculum might be organized to meet the needs of all learners. The base represents the most important concepts you want ALL STUDENTS to learn. The middle layer represents
Read more

Luau as a Metaphor for School Improvement

Image
The luau, once called the aha aina, was an event that was designed to unite the participants and foster good will, thanks and praise. The purpose of the luau could have been to celebrate accomplishments, honor heroes or gods, or commemorate important events. While some ancient foods represented strength or virility, other foods might symbolize virtues or goals the participants hoped to achieve (from To-Hawaii.com) A luau, in other words, is all about reflection. What is going well? What are the next steps? This is exactly what our school improvement teams did last week. They reflected on the level of implementation of their plan and the level of effectiveness. Participants spent the morning going through their plans goal by goal – looking back toward accomplishments and looking forward to next steps. We over-laid these discussions with information on managing and effectively facilitating change. We read Implications for School Leaders Facilitating Change , which is from H
Read more