Free Interactive Math Manipulatives
June 11, 2008
Tired of hearing the crash of math manipulatives hitting your tile floor? Do you ever wonder if your students are engaged in the math lesson while they are building the tallest tower of manipulatives possible? Then the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives is for you.
The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives is a free website that allows you access to a multitude of interactive virtual manipulatives. They range from pre-kindergarten up to twelfth grade. This allows for differentiating instruction for students’ different learning levels. The manipulatives are arranged into five categories – Number & Operations; Algebra; Geometry; Measurement; and Data Analysis & Probability. In each category you can find numerous interactive math manipulatives and activities for many different math concepts.
With the use of an interactive white board or projector these munipulatives can be used for discovery and inquiry-based learning by all your students. Your pupils will become actively involved as they see, hear, and do different math activities with the use of the manipulatives. This site can also be used to allow learners to make connections, and review concepts taught on individual classroom computers, in computer labs, or on home computers. In addition the site can be displayed in English, French, or Spanish, a great resource for our ELL (English Language Learners) populations. The days of manipulatives taking up shelf space are coming to an end. -MONIQUE ST.LOUIS
