Now that many teachers have had to take their lessons online, finding ways to engage students in hands-on manipulation of mathematics concepts is more important than ever. It can be easy to find ourselves wanting to simply plug students into adaptive math video games in this format, but as the CRA model shows (a research-based learning model that uses a concrete - representational - abstract process of introducing students to mathematical concepts), math is more meaningful and concepts more "sticky" when students engage in hands-on and visual explorations and discovery before being taught an algorithm or rule.
Without access to all of the wonderful manipulatives and tools that we have in our classroom, I've had to get creative about how students can engage in more hands-on, visual and inquiry-based math experiences in my distance classroom.
Below are some of my favorite online manipulatives for digital math inquiry.
Math Learning Center's free math apps
The Math Learning Center math manipulative apps work on a variety of platforms, and even allow teachers to set up and share out specific tasks to students using a share code. Drop the link to your created task in Seesaw or Google Classroom, and students have quick access to an exploration using virtual tools including number racks, geoboards, number frames, and more!Toy Theater's virtual manipulatives
Spinners, dice, place value mats, marble jar, and the list goes on. You can share a link to a specific tool in your platform of choice and students can manipulate visuals and numbers in the Toy Theater's uncomplicated, ad-free, web-based (works on any device) app. Teach your students how to take a screenshot and they can share their work back to you via Seesaw, Google Classroom or an LMS.
If you're an elementary teacher, you should definitely check out Seesaw. Originally designed as a digital portfolio where students could showcase their work for parents and peers, Seesaw is now also a space for students to demonstrate learning in a variety of ways, and educators to design interactive lessons that allow students to engage with the learning in multiple formats. Seesaw's whiteboard tool includes several built-in math manipulatives within the "shapes" menu including place value blocks and 2-dimensional shapes. You can also upload clip-art using the "image" tool, making the Seesaw whiteboard a great space for designing hands-on learning experiences in math.
This is a fun, stand alone app for exploring number patterns with students. The reason I like this digital hundreds chart over others is that you can use the slider to view numbers anywhere between 0-1000. I like to display this whole group for number talks, using various colors to highlight patterns and practice different count-bys (counting by 10s, 5s, 3s, etc.).
Clipart + Google Drawings or Jamboard
If you're feeling crafty, you can also create your own interactive experiences using some downloaded clipart and Google apps. My favorites right now happen to be Google Drawings and Jamboard, or a mashup of both. Recently I've started using the "Math Reps" Eduprotocol (using a basic template to provide students with the repetition needed to develop skill fluency) plus some free clipart downloads off Teachers Pay Teachers to design a set of math reps templates aligned with our current math curriculum. We push out our math reps as a weekly Seesaw activity and include tasks such as manipulating a number rack, jumping by 10s, using number sticks and place value flats.
Geogebra
- Click here for a sample template created in Google Drawings.
- Click here for my Math Rep Seesaw activities for my 2nd graders.
- Click here for some Math Reps templates in Google Jamboard
- Click here to learn more about Eduprotocols
Geogebra
Duane Habecker has also created some really nice virtual manipulatives in the Geogebra app including place value disks, color tiles, reknreks and ten frames. I really like the pattern blocks app that locks the blocks into place, making working with the blocks a lot easier than it's been in other apps where they slide around and don't fit up against each other quite right. These pattern blocks and sized just right and fit into a grid that allows for more accurate exploration of composing/decomposing shapes, fractions of a part, and completing pattern block puzzles or artwork.
DIY Manipulatives at home
You can also get creative about helping students to make their own hands-on learning experiences at home. Everything from beans, to egg cartons, to buttons, to string, to building blocks, to measuring cups can be a math manipulative for children to use while learning from home. Have students prep for the next day's math lesson by giving them a suggested list of materials around the house that can be used to practice counting, sorting, graphing, adding, subtracting, multiplying and more. Students can manipulate the materials right along with you during a lesson and take a picture or video of their work in Seesaw, Google Classroom, Flipgrid, etc. to help them share their work and explain their thinking.
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