Blog #20: Manipulative Reflection

1. How do you know students deepen their understanding while using manipulatives?

In order to know if  students are gaining understanding through their use of manipulatives is to give students pre and post assessments before and after working with the manipulatives. These assessments can either be formal or informal. For example, if students are using the pattern blocks for the identification of the properties of shapes, the teacher can verbally ask students how many sides, what are the sizes of the angles, etc. about each shape both before students work with the manipulatives and after. If students perform significantly better on the post test, the teacher knows that the work with the manipulatives was effective.

 

2. How do you know if the students can transfer their understanding from manipulatives to other situations?

The teacher will need to provide students with multiple situations in which students can use and transfer their knowledge . These multiple situations should include real-world, higher order thinking problem solving. For example, students are working with the snap blocks to create bar graphs based upon data they collected from the following poll: What is your favorite sport? Students collected the data by asking several classes within their school and then created their graph using the different colored snap blocks. The teacher, to see if students can apply their newfound knowledge, asked students the following questions: 1) Which sport did the people like the most? 2) Which sport did people like the least? 3) Was there any sport that you were surprised did not make the list? 4) What do you think is the most popular sport in the country? Using this type of questioning, students can analyze the information they collected and then expand upon it.

 

3. How can you assess that understanding or growth?

Assessment for working with manipulatives can be informal or formal. As long as the teacher tests students before and after they work with the manipulatives, the data collected will show student progress. For example, students can be asked to use the cuisenaire rods to set up addition and subtraction problems. The teacher will walk around to students desks and make a checkmark on a checklist for students who have accurately solved the problem. Students can be evaluated based upon the number of problems they got correct in comparison to the total number of questions.

 

4. When students work in groups, how do you hold each younster accountable for learning?

I am a firm believer on providing students with individual roles when working in groups. Each student should receive a designated duty to perform while within the group so that the group completes the assignment accurately and on time. Student duties could include recorder, time keeper, material runner, leader, etc. The student roles will largely be determined by the type of activity. The idea is that students are holding one another accountable for completing the work of the entire group. If one person does not effectively fill their assigned role , then the work of the entire group suffers. This creates positive peer pressure for all students to pull their own weight within the group.

 

5. When students work in groups, how do you assess each younster's depth of understanding?

Student depth of understanding can be assessed by asking students to take turns answering questions within their groups. In other words, students should each be responsible for a specific question in which they can utilize their group members if they do not understand the question or do not know the answer to the question but ultimately it is their responsibility to answer the question. The teacher, while asking the questions, can keep track of student responses on a simple chart that contains student names. Additionally, students can be asked to individually write out their reasoning for answering a group question individually. Therefore, they may write phrases such as, "Our group decided to start by…", or "Our group decided on this answer because…". In this manner, students are responsible for their own understanding of the work of the group and teachers can use their written explanations to assess understanding.

 

6. How are you improving students' problem solving skills with the manipulatives?

It is often easier to understand a concept by visually representing the concept. Manipulatives allow students to visually represent a variety of different types of problems. Unlike two dimensions drawings, manipulatives provide students with tangible materials to hold in their hands and to manipulate.