This, 6, is not SIX- Teaching Math With Manipulatives

This, 6, is not SIX

It is just the name of six written as an Arabic numeral.

So, what is six? What does it look like?

Choosing the right model for number is vital to understanding number concept.

We have two axioms: SEE all numbers as rectangles, and, All we do in math is count.

To count, first you must say what ONE is, define your unit. So, this is one:

We use manipulatives to make math concrete, especially for learners under 12 yrs of age, but usefully for all ages. This is a small plastic cube. The top face is a rectangle one over and one up. Then this, is six.

Six is a rectangle one over, six up, or two over and three up.

Visualizing a number as a rectangle, after playing with the plastic blocks to build the numbers, and drawing the construction - to enhance the power of visualization, we can SEE the factors, the magnitude, etc. of the number. You can't do any of that with just a symbol, 6.

The rectangular model of number, as a concept, is a powerful tool for understanding mathematics.

The complete method for teaching math using manipulatives and the Mortensen Method is fully explained in The Teacher's Handbook, link for purchase at top right on this page.

It is our mission as teachers and parents to provide the appropriate materials and situations for this to happen, and sometimes just to get out of the way.

By 1998 the demand on my schedule had become so heavy I knew had to find another way to reach more people. My solution was to record my workshop on video. I willingly sent the tapes to interested parties I couldn't teach in person. The problem with that scheduling solution was no one could ask questions. Extra explanations were missing because I wasn't there in person at the white board. That led me to the development of a handbook.

I'll tell you more about that in a minute. You probably want to know more about the Mortensen Math system first.

MORTENSON MORE THAN MATH employs manipulatives to enhance the child's ability to visualize math concepts, to decode the mathematical language into spatial reality.

The best way I know to explain the Mortensen Math system is to talk about memory first. How good is your short-term memory? More importantly, how good is your short-term memory with numbers? Suppose I gave you 20 numbers, each of them ten digits long. Do you think you could remember them for an hour? Five minutes? Do you think you could remember them long enough to write them down, even right after I told you?

Not likely. That's because you've been taught like everyone else to memorize the hard way. The hard way is how most students are taught math as well.

The truth is the entire math curriculum used in traditional teaching situations, employing textbooks,
relies on memorizing nothing but FACTS, RULES, FORMULAE AND PROCESS!

Our job as educators is to decode this mathematical language of symbols into a concrete reality. This is what the Mortensen method does.