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K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

manipulative

Learn more about manipulative

What time is it?
Students will learn to recognize analog and digital clocks. They will also gain skills to tell time to the hour on both clocks.
Format: lesson plan (grade 1 Mathematics)
By Alysia Baysden.
Popcorn math
In this lesson students will use a consumable manipulative to understand percent, fraction and decimal conversions. They will also collect data on a teacher produced spreadsheet while using a computer generated spreadsheet to make conversions.
Format: lesson plan (grade 6 Mathematics)
Open the gate, close the gate
Open the Gate, Close the Gate is a variety of activities to provide practice identifying and discriminating between open and closed figures. The activities are designed to meet varying learning styles, and to move students from the concrete level to the abstract level of learning.
Format: lesson plan (grade K Mathematics)
By Mary Deans.
Rolling a ball
More than a Physical Education lesson plan! The main focus of this manipulative activities lesson is rolling a ball. Students will roll other objects and practice rolling themselves. Additionally, you will find many ideas for structuring and managing a PE class.
Format: lesson plan (grade 1–2 )
By Bozena Mielczak.
Friendship addition
This lesson introduces students to the concept of basic single digit addition.
Format: lesson plan (grade K Mathematics)
By Jennifer Barbee.

Find all 19 resources in our collection.

Any physical object used in the classroom to model a problem or study a concept. A manipulative capitalizes on a student’s sensory exploration of concepts.

See also Cuisenaire rods, pattern blocks, tangram, unifix cubes.

Examples and resources