Student Contributor: A. Penrose
Math tool kits can include manipulatives, white boards, markers, number lines, spinners, and various other math tools that can be pulled out during a lesson or group work. Math tool kits make math supplies easily accessible to students and provide the tools needed to represent their work in various ways or can be used for activities.
Math is a subject that often times calls for various types of mathematical representation and there are so many useful tools that students need to have easy access to. Passing out supplies or having students go and collect them can take up time and delay the lesson, especially if manipulatives need to be counted out. Math tool kits can act as a solution to this by consolidating all necessary materials into a well-organized container. Within these tool kits, manipulatives and supplies are pre-counted, minimizing disruptions during lessons. This approach not only accelerates the readiness of resources but also facilitates an adaptable system, customizable for different grades and subjects. For upper-grade levels, the kits might encompass items such as protractors, compasses, formula cards, and graphing white boards.
I put this in the preventative phase because this is something you put together in order to prevent disruption in the classroom. This tool provides students with the resources they need to be successful in an activity without extra steps that would take up more time. I think this tool would fit best for a collaborative teacher. I think this is a collaborative tool because although the teacher is putting them together, the students are the ones who would be using the supplies and be in charge of returning everything when they are finished. Students could also have an input on what is included in the kit if something is not in there that they think they could benefit from having. Although this tool is apart of the preventative phase it also supports students during their learning by making sure they have everything they need in one spot.
More Information –
Tool Source: Found on Pintrest — Original source: thebombteachermom on instagram
4th grade
22 students
Urban
I tried this tool with my students, and it helped so much! At the beginning of the year, we had quite a bit of students who were struggling with addition and subtraction, which made working on multiplication and division even more difficult. I pulled small groups out to work with the students who were struggling and did a few mini lessons with them using different manipulatives such as counting blocks, white boards and markers, and number lines. I started back with addition and subtraction mostly using number lines and counting blocks. I did this for about 2 weeks, and once they understood how it works, we moved onto working with the algorithm. Then we moved into multiplication using counting blocks and grouping on whiteboards. Being able to see what was happening helped them a lot. Now whenever we teach a new math concept, we make sure to utilize physical objects or pictures.