Geometry Manipulatives for all Ages!!!!!!!!

As I have mentioned in my last few blogs, there are an abundance of applications out there to use to teach important math skills. In choosing some additional activities to research and explore, I chose the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives. On this website, the site provides 5 different categories relating to math including Numbers & Operations, Algebra, Geometry, Measurement, and Data Analysis & Probability. For each of these categories, there are ages bands that provide manipulatives you can use as a teacher for each of those categories. The age bands include Pre-K to 2, 3 to 5, 6 to 8, and 9 to 12. 

I chose to focus on the topic of Geometry, mainly because I absolutely LOVED that subject as a student and still do. Finding resources and manipulatives to teach geometry concepts alone may not be easy but that's where this website comes into handy. This website provides many different tools to use in your class for one category alone. If a teacher chooses a specific subject manipulative and feels comfortable using and ultimately adopts it, one might ask what happens if or when he/she moves grade levels?????? Will the same manipulative work teaching geometry??? That's a very good and important question. The answer is YES. For most of these manipulatives, you'll find that they are used in numerous grade levels, including Ladybug Leaf. Ladybug Leaf, a manipulative used for teaching Geometry concepts, can be used across different age bands including Pre-K to 2, 3 to 5, and 6 to 8. Please feel free to check out the website to view other math manipulatives that just may work in your classroom. I promise you won't be disappointed. Just remember, you need Java plug-in to be able to view this website. 

http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html