Virtual Manipulatives Research Paper

There should also be hands-on time to include this strength, using magnet boards or sentence strips. Students with learning disabilities do have the ability to overcome the disability; it is just a matter of building on strengths and finding new ways that work for the student to learn. It is not that students with learning disabilities have something wrong with them, they only learn in a different way. In fact, all students learn differently and focusing on each student's strengths would benefit them greatly in their education. As teachers, we should apply methods we use in Special Education to all students. For instance, using accommodations such as graphic organizers or flexible means of presentation helps all students excel. The graphic organizers assist with students' overall understanding and attention during the lessons. The flexible means of presentation such as lecture, group work, and hands on work allows all students to learn the material as they each have a different primary mode of learning visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile.

Students are thus learning through the representation in options for language, mathematical expressions and symbols, with strategies to Clarify vocabulary and symbols, syntax and structure, promoting understanding across languages, illustrating through multiple media, decoding text, mathematical notation and symbols. Furthermore, representation provides options for comprehension, activate or supply background knowledge, highlights patterns, critical features, big ideas and relationships, guide information processing, visualization and manipulation, maximize transfer and generalization. ( National Center on Universal Design for Learning, 2014)

In the educational world, there are countless programs, curricula, strategies, manipulates, and resources for teachers to pull from in order to aide in the teaching of concepts and learning of students. Whatever method(s) a school or district has deemed best practice, or adopted as their curriculum, tend to be the instructional practices or resources utilized the most by those teachers. Additionally, teachers will also have preference to teaching styles, resources, and materials they use for their students. While autonomy in any classroom is important to students’ academic growth, one must also be careful to select and implement instructional with great intention and purpose. Consideration to students needs is equally important as the mandate of teaching standards and demonstrating proficiency amongst students. Even when teaching non-disabled students, it can be time consuming and overwhelming to plan lessons so just how much more is involved when planning for students with significant disabilities (SD)? Better yet, what are appropriate instructional strategies to use for students with SD? Regardless of the instructional setting, these are considerations that must be given when teaching students with SD in order to maximize their learning opportunities to learn

Many of the instructional strategies presented by Vacca et al. (2014, pp. 172-197) I had heard of before. That was not the case when it came to ‘Imagine, Elaborate, Predict, and Comfirm (IEPC). This “strategy encourages students to use visual imagery to enhance their comprehension of a text selection”(Vacca et al., 2014, p. 191). Vacca (2014, pp. 191-192) presents a detailed explanation of this strategy along with a sample chart. The chart allowed me to visualize the strategy itself and what it should look like when properly applied. Being a future high school math teacher, I love to apply what I am reading to teaching mathematics, but not I’m not sure I see how this could be applied in my class. I feel that it is a great tool for teacher, but I don’t think that it would work in a high school math

During the Foundation Phase, children develop their skills, knowledge and understanding of mathematics through oral, practical and play activities. In our setting children`s mathematical development is supported by different activities. Children are encouraged to develop their understanding of measurement units, investigate the properties of shapes and develop early ideas of reasoning and basic mathematical procedures through practical opportunities. These opportunities include cooking, exploring and counting activities.

The grade band that I chose was 3-5 and I decided to focus on percentages and factorization. The virtual manipulative I selected is called the Percentages Virtual Manipulatives, this manipulative slows the student to input two or three quantities of the percentage equation. It also helps the student to understand how to list the equation and identify which part goes where and computes the unknown quantity. The results are also stated verbally which also helps the child to understand which variable is the part, whole, and percentage. The second virtual manipulative is the Factor Tree which allows the student to explore and understand prime factors. It also allows children to find the GCF and LCM of a pair of numbers. They also learn what is

Linguistic instructional methods, such as reading and listening, activate the left side of the brain, while non-linguistic methods, which incorporate the senses and movement, activate the left side. As a result, engaging both sides of the student’s brain in the learning process, through a balanced plan of instruction, is important. Such an approach is also believed to improve a student’s ability to remember and apply that information in the future. In order to facilitate this, the teacher must include the use of non-linguistic representations or cues in their lessons to make challenging content comprehensible. Such elements as visual aids - like graphic organizers, pictures, illustrations or images; hands-on experiences including the use of manipulatives or physical models that students can touch, move and create; physical or kinesthetic techniques using movement including gestures such as hand movements to illustrate concepts; and demonstrations, modeling

The use of technology in educating children with special needs has widely grown in the past few decades, and has since has changed the way people with disabilities live, work, and learn” (Winzer, 2002, p. 98). Individuals with special needs are unique and all have different areas in which they need assistance. Due to the advancements in assistive technology, computer programs, software, and other technology tools, have helped people to find useful and easier ways to become educated.

The article I read was "Do You See What I Mean? Visual Literacy Supports for Students with Disabilities". Many learners with disabilities are visual learners and are best able to understand and remember content when they can see it represented in some way; in other words, they need to “see what we mean.” Three visual supports helpful for teaching and supporting literacy development include: picture books, graphic notes, and story kits.

The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between the Concrete-Representation-Abstract (CRA) approach to intervention and student achievement in a 6-8 grade Middle School Tier 2 mathematics intervention classroom. The independent variable will be defined as the CRA method. The dependent variable will be defined as student achievement. An additional purpose is the explore the effectiveness of the delivery method of CRA, specifically the delivery by the educator or through the use of technology and the effect on student achievement.

Individuals with Down syndrome can have characteristics of challenging behaviors, which is defined as “behavior emitted by a learner that results in self injuries or injury of others, causes damage to the physical environment, interferers with the of new skills, and/or socially isolates the learner” (Na & Wilkinson, 2015). AAC can help promote communication and minimize disruptions and challenging behaviors. AAC systems are all set up differently, and it is important to match the person with Down syndrome to the correct system. The layout of the symbols is important in aided visual AAC. Originally the symbols have been laid out in a row-column grid, in this study, a perimeter arrangement was used. The study found that identification of

Math manipulatives can have a positive effect on the learning experience of a child. These manipulatives can help students maintain focus and develop a stronger overall understanding of mathematics (Florence). Students respond well to the addition of hands-on activities versus a strictly traditional lecture method of learning. The sense of touch and handling of objects kinesthetically kindles the interest and imagination of the students and assists in building understanding and beyond drill and stimulus-response method used.

Other types of traditional applications include tutorial programs, simulation programs, and problem solving programs. Tutorial programs differ greatly from drill and practice software. Instead of re-teaching already learned information, these programs introduce new information, concepts and ideas. Simulation programs are visual simulations that help children with special needs learn how to make good choices. “These programs model reality and allow students to use their skills to make decisions and solve problems in a safe learning environment.” (Olson, 325) These programs are especially useful in preparing individuals with special needs for life after graduation. By being placed in different situations, children are able to gain knowledge that may help them later on in life. The great aspect of these programs is that the children do not need to leave the computer in order to gain useful outside knowledge. Problem solving programs are also very useful in educating kids with special needs. In these types of programs, children are given a problem and then required to take the necessary

Understanding cognition and how we learn is essential in the developmental stages of children. Not all students learn in the same way, understanding the cognitive process will assist in the development of the students. By modifying my approach when giving instructions I have noticed growth in current students that I am working with. Using concrete materials and giving the opportunity for students to be involved in hands-on activities on a daily basis, is essential in making new material meaningful to learners.. The knowledge gained from this topic has increased my understanding and is benefiting the children I am currently

Markworth (2012) suggests ways students can learn algebraic concepts and geometric patterns by developing an understanding of functional thinking. Growing patterns are a useful counting method that allows students to engage with algebra. Geometric growing patterns best support student’s ability to develop functional thinking which is essential. This article outlines three teaching strategies for using geometric growing patterns, these are: