I Get It! Making Connections with Manipulatives

Three moms are trying to get their 3-year olds to hang up their coats...

Mom #1 tells her child, "Please go hang your coat on the peg." Mom #2 points at another child hanging up his coat and says to her kid, "See how he's hanging up his coat? Please do that." Mom #3 takes her kid by the hand, walks him over to the coat, and guides him in picking it up and hanging it on the peg--all with a strong explanation and praise. Which mom do you think will succeed?

The first mom only used auditory methods. The second mom used auditory and visual ones. Mom #3 emphasized kinesthetic/hands-on but also talked to the child (auditory) and demonstrated (visual). Good teachers and smart moms and dads cater to many learning styles when they teach!

The National Association of Elementary Principals says that most kiddos under age 9 are primarily kinesthetic learners. They learn by doing. They need to touch and move (MANIPULATE!!!) things. But, we all have combo learning styles to some degree. (I'm tactile and kinesthetic with a lot of auditory and a little visual thrown in. You get the idea.)

Hmm, seems like manipulatives must be perfect for teaching children, then! These tools are mostly kinesthetic and tactile, yet also give strong visual cues and encourage communication (auditory).

Manipulatives are visual because kids can “see” what’s going on as they work through a problem with their hands. Manipulatives help unlock abstract concepts and put them right smack dab in the palm of little concrete hands. Color-coding systems are even utilized by some kinds of manipulatives (see examples below) —a double dose of visuals!

Rainbow Fraction (R)
http://www.learningresources.com/category/teachers/shop+by+brand/rainbow+fraction--174-.do

Reading Rods (R)
http://www.learningresources.com/category/teachers/shop+by+brand/reading+rods--174-.do

As far as the auditory part goes, hands-on instruction with manipulatives is cooperative. It gets kids talking about what they did and how they did it, while getting them to practice using key vocabulary.

If you follow this blog already, I probably don't have to convince you that the hands-on way is best for kids. But, there are folks out there who need to be reminded that hands-on instruction isn't just fun and games, that multiple learning styles aren't mumbo jumbo, and that manipulatives aren't toys.

Manipulative-based instruction is engaging, but that doesn’t mean it’s goofing off! That being said, it's not magic either. Manipulatives are “part of a complete breakfast”. When used correctly with good teaching, they’re a research-based best practice and cover skills aligned with the standards.

This isn’t just my opinion. The Put Reading First research recommends that kids learn phonics through "manipulating" word parts. Use of manipulatives has been recommended by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in every decade since the 40's. According to the National Center for Accessing the General Curriculum, manipulatives positively affect student achievement when compared with traditional instruction. In a national survey, 85% of elementary teachers rated manipulatives as "highly effective". Need I go on? :)

Inauguration Words Inspire Lessons

I've always been a word, rather than numbers person, although I appreciate good hard number facts once in a while. I aced the verbal part of my SAT and tanked on the nonverbal. In college, I squeezed out teaching degrees without having to take a single math class! (A crime in higher education, but yes, it happened.)

BTW, when you skip math in college, you get to opt out of doing budgets when you get a job in the real world, right? SHHH! This is exactly what I'm telling my new boss. ;)

Back to my main point...

Watching the inauguration events yesterday, I was struck by all the beautiful words spoken. Some consider the English language "ugly to the ears" because its rhythm, grammar rules, and vocabulary roots are a hodge podge of irregularity. But, I think that just might be what makes it a thing of beauty. In the words spoken yesterday by poet Elizabeth Alexander, "our patchwork heritage is a strength".

I thought these inaugaural quotes were particularly moving. I'm going to save them for a day when I have more time to contemplate what they really mean from my own experience. So, I thought you might want to share a few with your children/students. No matter your political affiliation, the words themselves will make great topics for critical thinking activities or discussions on character, conflict resolution, politics, or history.

President Obama:

"...we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned."

"...we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."

"...willingness to find meaning in something greater than ourselves"

"...bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction."

"...men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath."


Poet Elizabeth Alexander:

"Each day we go about our business, walking past each other, catching each others’ eyes or not, about to speak or speaking."

"We encounter each other in words, Words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; Words to consider, reconsider."

"…take no more than you need"

"In today’s sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun."


Lowery Benediction:

"...work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around...when yellow will be mellow (is this guy really going to keep this rhyme going much longer?--hilarious!) "...when the red man can get ahead, man" (another good one! keep it up!) "...and when white will embrace what is right."

Hey, maybe all these words will even inspire a young writer to write words just as beautiful!

Oh...and sure, these words are strong enough to stand on their own as inspiration for all kinds of writing activities. But, if you're looking for great tools to round out your writing lessons (hands-on materials & graphic organizers), check out these unique things that could lend a hand:

http://www.learningresources.com/category/teachers/shop+by+subject/language+arts/product+category/writing+-+grammar/editing+-+mechanics.do?page=1&sortby=best&asc=true

http://www.learningresources.com/product/encyclopedia+of+language+arts+blackline+masters.do?search=basic&keyword=7323&sortby=best&asc=true&page=1

Hand Pointer Point of View

Remember when you were a kid and someone pointed at you? That gesture was always followed by doom. The "point" of pointing is to draw attention to something without saying a word, but that attention doesn't have to be bad. Actually, we know from classroom management research that many negative student behaviors can be quickly halted by using...HUMOR!

So, how do you make a one-finger gesture a positive (and effective) thing? A cartoon pointing hand on a stick! Some of my all-time favorite Learning Resources products are our Hand Pointers: http://www.learningresources.com/p2p/searchResults.do?method=view&search=basic&keyword=handpointer&sortby=best&asc=true&page=1

Yes, somewhere in Cartoonland there are thousands of characters sporting only stumps, but their amputational contributions will never be forgotten. Thanks, guys, for lending a hand! ;) (Oops, I guess humor can also be a bad thing too.)

I love the Hand Pointer because it's simple, versatile (value), and has personality. I consider myself somewhat creative. I've made my fair share of bulletin board decor, cardboard flashcards, and mini reading rooms made of giant refrigerator boxes. But, there's no way I can make a pointer this darn cute!

If I were back in the classroom, here's what I'd be doing with my cutie-patootie Hand Pointers:

1. Good point! Point at a kid who's doing something good for a change. Look for positive behaviors and literally "point" them out as great examples of how your whole class should act.

2. Give one to a kid who gets to play teacher during an activity with peers.

3. Whip them out unexpectedly to use while presenting at professional development workshops or staff meetings. I've had great success (and a lot of fun) with this.

4. If you're lucky enough to have an interactive whiteboard in your classroom, the Hand Pointers work great on them!

5. Assessment in any subject--point out things and ask students questions about them (obvious, I know). This can be pointing to parts of a cross-section to quiz kids on science terms, pointing to objects in the room to see if ELLs are building everyday vocabulary, pointing to states/countries on a map, etc.

6. Fluency--to help readers with their pace, use the pointer to follow the words as your students chant them.

7. Phonics, alphabet awareness, and phonological awareness--highlight letters or parts of written words in pocket charts or on the board. Tap a desk/table to count out syllables in a spoken word. Here's how one teacher does this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CISbVc2eV4o

8. Vocabulary--point to words IN CONTEXT in big books or on the board. Then, talk about meanings.

9. Counting--sometimes auditory learners need to hear numbers. Tap out their values or have students tap the rhythm as they count (or skip count!) up or down.

10. Patterns--tap them out on a desk/table. There are all kinds of patterns in the world. Some are auditory, AKA "music". ;)

Yes, many of these things you can also do with your own finger or a dowel rod (note: splinter & termite risks), but that's no fun!