Instructional Strategies
This semester I strived to make activities fun and appealing for my students with manipulative to encourage them to focus. This strategy significantly increased student attention span and retention during activities.
In the picture to the left, the student and I were working on addition and "ways to make 10" by using 2 dog bowls, real dog treats, and a stuffed toy. I would probe him by placing some dog bones on the green bowl, for example 2. He would then count the rest and one-to-one correspond count the rest and place them in the brown bowl. After we wrote the equation on the table, the puppy could then eat the treats out of the bowls! This student was motivated by getting to play with the puppy after each equation and manipulating the dog bones helped him to make that concrete connection to the equation. I found that most students learn much better and faster when presented with concrete manipulative. Knowing this, I can use different strategies, like the one above, to make lessons fun and engaging while connecting the manipulative to the material I am teaching. |