Making Manipulatives Work: A Strategy For Success

Abstract

As twentyfour second graders enter their classroom after lunch, each one eagerly grabs a playing card from a face-down deck containing only twenty-four cards. “I'm going to the five' table today,” announce Janet as she shows her five of hearts to her friends. Janet then proceeds to a child-sized table over which is suspended a large “5” rotating on a string. Each of Janet 's classmates follows the same procedure until they are seated in groups of four at six tables. The rest of the room is filled with many attractive centers and stations each directed toward the achievement of classroom objectives. Also apparent on countertops and tables are many basket, boxes, and bag full of colorful mathematics manipulatives. which are always kept accessible to the students for use when counting, classifying, patterning, constructing, and exploring.