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!