It's Math Manipulative Mania in Kindergarten! Kindergarteners need many different opportunities to practice and apply concepts taught in math. Hands-on manipulatives are one of the most powerful tools in helping them accomplish mastery of the math concepts.
My students are from a rural, but growing community in Arizona.
The majority come from families living in poverty. Many parents are single parents with very little resources to provide for their children. My school in a Title I school with more than 85% receiving free/reduced lunch. With many factors against them, they come to school with an eagerness to learn. School is their safe place. I try to fill the 3 hours I have with them with love, encouragement and lots of opportunity to grow.
My Project
These math manipulatives would be used in many different ways in the classroom. The manipulatives would be made available on a daily basis for students to explore and practice concepts with during our "Math Bucket" time. Students are giving approximately 15 minutes in each session for this opportunity. These manipulatives will also be used during direct instruction to take the direct instruction lessons to the next, hands-on level. Having a variety of manipulatives to choose from adds to the novelty with an element of surprise as the students wonder what manipulative will they get to use today. My students will have a better understanding of many math concepts, including number sense, patterning, sorting, visual discrimination, and graphing, with the manipulatives in this project.
You will be helping many kindergarteners this year and for many years to come master state standards in math.
These manipulatives keep math exciting and keep them wanting to learn more. You will be providing tools these student would other wise not have the opportunity to learn with. They allow students to work at their ability level, whether it be basic or advanced, and practice to build the building blocks in math for future learning.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Skubisz and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.