Number theory and manipulatives - 1510

I wanted to take a post and consider what is out there for teachers to use in their classrooms. Mainly I'm looking at different teacher supply sites and what they offer for mathematics support; things like manipulatives and other hands-on materials to help students grasp (literally) the concepts of numbers. The go-to site for me has always been Discount School Supply. It is an online store that I made use of when I did daycare. They have a great selection of counters and other math supplies.

Learning that important one-to-one number correspondence is part of the kindergarten world.  Counters are certainly a great way to help the students learn that the written number 4 is equal to four of something.  There are counters that resemble fruit, pets, dinosaurs, cars and trucks and teddy bears.  Counters often come in different colors and can then be used to help sorting skills.  Having a variety of these counters in your class will help engage students in number theory.  The various shapes can also connect math to other subjects- say you are reading a story about pets during circle time- have the household pet counters during math and make that connection back to the story.   Eventually they can be used to discuss sets- you can set up a station that would illustrate the intersection of blue animals by having a few different pets in a few different colors- you can ask the kids to set up the intersection of dogs or cats or yellow animals.

 I think one of the most important considerations to make when selecting manipulatives for your class is making sure you have open-ended, multi-use objects.  One of the best would be the interlocking one inch square colored blocks. Not only can they be used as the counters above, for making one-to-one correlations but can also be used as simple base 10 blocks and for measuring and estimation.  In my job at school we often have a basket of these available to kids when they are pulled out to work on math individually.  They can estimate the number of blocks an object will measure and then use the blocks to check their estimation.  Students have them available to help with addition and subtraction.  They also use them to show "counting on" concepts.  For instance, you want to student to add five and four.  You give them the already connected block of five and have them count on, or add on four more blocks. These little cubes are really a wonderful item to have around.

 As students progress and begin to learn about addition and subtraction a number line is an important tool to make use of.  There are plenty of ways to make cheap and easy number lines to have at each desk or table spot but this floor model caught my eye. Since we have learned in our text about helping students to visualize walking up and down a number line as they add or subtract, it makes sense to have them really do this.  I think you could easily have two of them and just add negative signs to one line once students are learning about negative numbers.  Older students may benefit from getting up out of their desks to actively engage themselves in the concept. Of course you can take this idea and create it yourself out of masking tape and construction paper numbers.

Here are some other sites that sell classroom supplies. Since money is always an issue in stocking the classroom I think checking out these sites a great way to spark inspiration for something you could create yourself or a new way to use something you already have.

Homeroom Teacher
Really Good Stuff
Lakeshore Learning
Oriental Trading