Virtual Math Manipulatives

Math manipulatives take time to organize, distribute, and collect. We find base ten blocks and fraction bars on floors days after we've used them. An alternative is virtual manipulatives. Not only do they help with those physical annoyances, but they can help us take technology use up the SAMR model. A student could use a creation with virtual manipulatives, saved as an image. The image can be combined with an audio explanation, included in a report, etc. It can be part of a larger project, just a one-time assignment demonstrating knowledge, or even part of an informal assessment of understanding.

Websites

Here are a few websites with these tools for your students. You should note that these sites use Flash, which is not supported on iPads through Safari. Therefore, our students do not currently have a way to use these on iPads. They work just great on Chromebooks (when we receive ours in the Fall), MacBook Airs, and lab computers, though.

Math Playground has many virtual manipulatives, skill practice, and modeling/thinking tools.

Math Playground manipulative examples

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives is a classic you may already know, organized by grade level and category.

iPads

Students can demonstrate understanding and teachers can model for students. Some ideas to try with current apps (or apps coming soon!):

• Educreations, Showme, or Explain Everything: students can take pictures of or search the web for images of specific manipulatives and insert them. They can also duplicate them.  Then they record and share with you, the teacher, to check for understanding. 
• The word is that 3rd-5th graders will have the Virtual Manipulatives app on their iPads next year for fractions, decimals, and percents. K-2 student apps have not been finalized yet.

Do you have other math manipulative sites or apps you use? Please comment and share below!

Two Apps are Better Than One

For students or teachers, our iPads are fantastic tools. But sometimes we feel limited with what a certain app can or cannot do. If you've ever felt this way, I invite you to App Smash.

What is App Smashing, you ask? It's creating content in one app, then transferring and enhancing your creation in a second app and perhaps a third.


Let me give you an example.

1. A student creates a graphic organizer in Popplet like this one above.
2. The student exports the graphic organizer as an image and saves it to Photos on the iPad.
3. The student starts a new book in Book Creator. The student adds the image from Popplet, along with other elements, to create a ebook teaching people studying to become naturalized US citizens what they need to learn.
   

Our fourth graders are creating similar projects to this one. Ask a fourth grade teacher or student for more info!

There are many times that an image or video can be created, saved to Photos, and then inserted into a project in another app.

How Can I Use This?

Students with iPads can App Smash to create more detailed, engaging, and creative projects. Giving students choices about which apps to use or how to create an end product will lead to these types of projects. Teachers can App Smash to create tutorials, attention grabbers, or even share student work with families. Since you can install any apps you'd like on your teacher iPad, the possibilities are endless! Check the blog later and look for posts with the label "App Smashing" for more ideas. 

How have you used App Smashing or seen it used?