High Motivation and Concrete Thinking in Middle School Math
Help me give my students an array of manipulatives and educational games, including the upper grades math manipulative set to encourage hands on and concrete thinking when solving problems and motivate students to learn.
$996 goal
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
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My classes this year are filled with sixth graders that are brand new to the middle school! This year has been a big transition from both elementary school to middle school and also from distance learning to face to face all week. Amongst all of my classes, I have about 100 students! In my class, we cover the sixth-grade math common core, which can be challenging and frustrating, but my students come to class ready to do their best.
My classes are full of grit and determination and are working hard to overcome some of the challenges they faced in the last year and a half.
COVID-19 has had a tremendous impact on student learning. Students have worked hard at home during distance learning, but still, have some noticeable gaps in the content that they came into sixth grade with already mastered. I, as their teacher, and my students have worked hard this year to fill in those gaps, and they are constantly learning new things. My students are flexible and take on all the challenges and changes that they are constantly facing in the midst of this pandemic.
My Project
When considering the effects of COVID-19 and the gap that has been created in student understanding and achievement, more instruction and more review of previously covered concepts is a must. The materials I have chosen for my project are first aimed at creating concrete examples that students can refer to and second and increasing student motivation and willingness to learn. I have chosen two types of materials in this project, the first being math manipulatives and the second being math games.
Math manipulatives allow students to see an example and problem solve using physical objects.
This not only encourages concrete thinking, but also provides students with an opportunity to visualize more abstract concepts. Math manipulatives provide students with an additional way of learning and heavily lends itself to kinesthetic learners.
Math games provide high motivation activities that students are excited to do and interact with. It also encourages the retention of math skills such as multiplication and division facts. By motivating students to interact with math concepts, students are more engaged and are learning while they are playing.
More than half of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Baum and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
