Manipulative Activities

This was a completely different day, over all the other days we have had in the classroom this semester. Today was the first day where each and every person in class was able to participate in the different manipulative activities that were around the room. I seemed to learn, like each and everyday in class, more about how to properly use and incorporate these different activities to best suit the students.

The one major thing I noticed about doing these different activities is that the teacher would constantly be walking around the room to make sure each student was helping work with the different manipulative. I think it could be hard to determine how to hold every student accountable, so having a check list or just observing the students might be enough. I also think that by having each group member at a manipulative table switch off who was writing down the information was another great idea. This way when the papers are collected, the teacher can see exactly who was writing and see the different handwriting analysis on the paper.

All types of games and activities have to have some kind of catch phrase to attract the buyers to them. But the phrase, "Hands-On" has been eliminated and has been brought back to life with, "Hands-On, Mind-On." I think that the, "Hands-On, Minds-On" is a much better way to promote a product. This way it is an activity that is done with your hands, but at the same time you are thinking of all the possibilities that can come with these activities. For example, the unifix cubes or the snap cubes, those were both hands-on and mind-on. You obviously had to use your hands to figure out different ways to use the cubes, but you also had to use your mind to see how and why certain situations took place. There is more thinking involved when something is mind-on because students not just playing with the manipulative.

The process standards are used in many ways with all the different manipulative activities. Students and teachers will be able to determine different types of reasoning and proofs to try and prove a point about how a manipulative could work. Communication, this will take place all the time, when students are talking to one another about their ideas for how a manipulative could work. There are always many different ways for them to be used. Connections could be made between subjects or lessons being taught, and they could be made about the different types of manipulative activities being used. For example, I was making connections between the unifix cubes and the snap cubes on how they were similar, yet different from one another. Students will be able to problem solve and become more aware of the problem solving when working with hands-on minds-on activities. They allow students to think in a more abstract and out-of-the-box way that can help them develop. Representation, how was this not used in the manipulative activities? Every thing that was taking place with the manipulative activities was being represented in a different way and was able to mean something else at some point.

I really enjoyed doing these activities, I feel like I know more about them and how to use them in the correct way and how to give proper instruction (when it is given) to the students.