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Mcdonough
Mcdonough
Andrea McDonough
Summary
This article discusses the essential use of concrete manipulatives to help student
The article identifies key three messages based upon the belief that "good concrete
activity is good mental activity" (Clements & McMillan, 1996, p.272 - As cited in
McDonough, 2016).
2. Lessons that incorporate concrete materials can stimulate children's higher order
thinking
Through the activities provided, McDonough found that children were engaged, key
mathematical terms were highlighted and articulated, children had experience with the
concrete materials according to the lesson, and that students led discussion.
that without the appropriate discussion and teaching to make the links of the concepts
Jane Sparrow 20144178
Therefore, McDonough states that whilst manipulatives are essential they are not a
stand-alone product but an essential addition to good concrete activities and abstract
approaches.
Reflection
I completely agree with this article in the importance of using concrete materials that
the fact that whilst manipulatives are essential, they are not the sole product of a
mathematics lesson and rather an addition to assisting children make links in a good
mathematics lesson full of open-ended, probing questions. They are a material to help
I found that in the classroom, no matter the mathematics lesson, I always tried to
provide students with manipulatives, whether or not it was an abstract lesson. This
allowed me to see which students required the use of them and which students had
already grasped the concepts. By the end of the mathematic learning task, those who
had started off using the manipulative as aid did not require the assistance of the
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