Articles

1) Access Center: Tools and Activities for Teaching and Learning - A vast number of resources for teaching mathematics in the elementary and secondary grades are now available on the Internet. Many of these resources are available for free. The resources discussed in this document are web-based tools and activities for teaching and learning mathematics. http://www.k8accesscenter.org/training_resources/MathWebResources.asp

2) The Rationale for Using manipulatives in the Middle Grades by Dana Freer Weiss, Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, Volume 11, Number 5, December 2005/January 2006.    Not available on the web.

3) The Use of Manipulatives in Mathematics Instruction by Louise Spear-Swerling, This is an article discussing the use of manipulatives by students with learning disabilities.  http://www.ldonline.org/spearswerling/8000

4) Math Manipulatives, part of the Math Web Resources and Standardized Test Preparation series, contains resources that enable students to interact online. It begins with a short essay on virtual manipulatives.
http://www.ct4me.net/math_manipulatives.htm

5) What role can manipulatives play in the math classroom? -  an article on the use of manipulatives at the Math Forum.
http://mathforum.org/t2t/faq/faq.manipulatives.html

______________________________________________________________________

Online Manipulatives Resources

NEIRTEC math portal - the links from this site are arrangedinto 12 categories for Algebra readiness: (1)Represent Integers, Fractions, Decimals, Percent, (2) Compute Fractions, Decimals, Percent, (2) GCF, LCM, Prime Factors, (4) Ratios, Rates, Proportions, (5) Geometric Figures and Properties, (6) Perimeter, Area, Volume, (7) Pythagorean Theorem, (8) Data, (9)Probability, (10)Algebraic Equations, (11) Patterns, (12) Functions
http://www.neirtec.org/activities/math_portal.htm

SELECT Math - The resources on this website were created in the Boston Public School District (BPS). The goal of the project is to provide teachers and students access to virtual manipulatives that directly support our district's math and technology curricula.
http://www.boston.k12.ma.us/teach/technology/select/index.html

Arcytech Educational Java Programs - Ten Java™ Applets from Arcytech.org, (on topics such as integer bars and Pythagorean Theorem) that can be used as tools to help students both at school and at home.  http://www.arcytech.org/java/java.shtml

Computing Technology for Math Excellence: Math Manipulatives - links to a collection of calculators and calculator tutorials and other interactive applets on the Web.  http://www.ct4me.net/math_manipulatives.htm#Manipulatives

Math Tools at Drexel Math Forum - A community library of interactive technology tools, lessons, activities, and support materials for teaching and learning mathematics.  http://mathforum.org/mathtools/started.html

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives - A digital library containing Java applets and activities for K-12 mathematics.
http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html

NCTM’s Illuminations - searchable database of 91 interactive activites to illuminate math standards and principles.

Interactivate - Free, online courseware for exploration in mathematics. It is comprised of 100 interactivities (and 70 lessons based on the activities and aligned with NCTM standards). Interactivate also provides alignments with a number of common math texts. For every lesson of every chapter of an aligned text, they provide links to relevant Interactivate activities, lessons, and discussions.
http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/

Matemáticas Interactiva - Spanish version of Shodor Interactivate.  http://www.eduteka.org/MI/master/interactivate/

Villainy, Inc.: Thwarting World Supremacy through Mathematics is a site devoted to helping middle grade students build and use problem-solving skills to solve unique and complex mathematical problems. Through "Carmen San Diego-style" missions, they become undercover agents working to thwart the evil Dr. Wick, ID and his half-baked and often-zany schemes to take over the world. The site contains two Missions. Drawing on the Maryland State Curriculum indicators and objectives, each Mission explores a variety of topics in mathematics, including algebra and geometry. During their involvement in a Mission, students have to draw on a wide assortment of math skills to find an answer, thinking critically and trying various methods to come up with a logical answers.  They can query onscreen characters and are given online tools to do the job. http://villainyinc.thinkport.org/default.asp

Visual Math - explore linear and quadratic functions with java applets. Visualizing mathematics is a computer oriented inquiry curriculum for studying mathematics in the 7th to 12th grades. The curriculum is based on the possibility to present, explore and explain concepts and processes in algebra, calculus and geometry. 
http://www.cet.ac.il/math/function/english/

Waldo Interactive Math Pages - 50 java applets for number sense, algebra, geometry and measurment and statictics. Site is maintained by Ron Barrow, a math educator in the United Kingdom.  http://www.waldomaths.com/index1116.jsp

WisWeb - 20 math applets for a variety of algebraic topics including number sense, number and estimation, measurement, algebra and calculus, geometry, discrete math, statistics and probability. This Dutch site provides materials in four languages.
http://www.fi.uu.nl/wisweb/en/