Book Study: Chapter 7

Chapter 7 is all about manipulatives, models, experiments, and labs in the classroom.  I loved this chapter because a ton of what many of us do in our primary classrooms involve the use of this strategy.  

The benefits of manipulatives and models include an increased understanding of math concepts, a stronger math foundation, as well as a better chance of learning being remembered and consistently applied.  Lots of reasons to incorporate this strategy into our daily routines.  

What I'm Already Doing: 
During our Daily 5 rotations each day we use different materials to practice our sight words as well as our spelling words.  Recently we have used clothespins with letters to build vowel team words and sight words. We've even used the pins to build contractions.   

We also build spelling words with magnet letters and/or Scrabble Cheez-Its.  The kids love the Cheez-It option!

In math manipualtives and models are so important because its help the kids understand the math thinking behind their answers.  We use a ton of manipulatives during our math workshop block.  Most recently we've been using place value blocks and rekenreks.

What I'd Like to Try: 

During our math workshop time I'd like to offer the kids a choice of manipulatives.  I'd also like to include more science experiments in our room.  We tend to do whole group demonstrations but I think small group experiments could make the science even more meaningful to my kiddos.  

Be sure to check out Mrs. Jump's Class to see all the amazing ideas people are blogging about!