ABSTRACT
Modeling addition and subtraction math strategies helps build conceptual understanding. Manipulatives are essential in the teaching and learning of mathematics. Manipulatives are physical objects that students and teachers can use to illustrate and discover mathematical concepts, whether made specifically for mathematics. Manipulatives allow students to see the math they are doing, model the math that they are learning, making the abstract more concrete, and they also provide a way for students to talk about their thinking. After students work with manipulatives, they then begin to record their work with manipulatives through mathematical drawings and sketching. As students are working with concrete, pictorial and abstract representations, they begin to deeply understand the math they are doing. There should be a place in the classroom where these can stay up for most, if not all, of the year. Students should have an opportunity to make their own charts. Students should keep their charts in their math journal under the Math Strategy Section.
