Reflections on Practice: Manipulatives: One Piece of the Puzzle

Getting students to think about mathematics in ways that go beyond using procedures to solve routine problems is an important goal of mathematics reform. Manipulatives can be important tools in helping students to think and reason in more meaningful ways. By giving students concrete ways to compare and operate on quantities, such manipulatives as pattern blocks, tiles, and cubes can contribute to the development of well-grounded, interconnected understandings of mathematical ideas.