Description
Do your math lessons use great tools but still fall short of deep student reasoning? Do you want a simple way to combine visual, kinesthetic, and discourse-based strategies into one cohesive learning experience? Multimodal instruction across the concrete, representational, and abstract continuum strengthens conceptual understanding and supports diverse learners, including multilingual students. Blending visual models, manipulatives, number lines, technology, and math talk routines deepens sense making, sparks curiosity, and builds student ownership of learning. In this course, Michelle Dragalin shows you not just what to use but how and why to combine strategies so students reason flexibly, participate meaningfully, and transfer understanding. Participants receive printable visual model templates and a curated list of virtual manipulatives, interactive whiteboards, math modeling apps, and digital graphing tools.
Objectives
Identify visual models, manipulatives, number lines, and digital tools that support the concrete, representational, and abstract continuum.
Explain how multimodal strategies improve conceptual understanding and access for diverse and multilingual learners.
Implement a math talk routine that aligns to success criteria and prompts students to explain and revise their thinking.
Compare two lesson plans to determine how effectively they integrate visual, kinesthetic, and discourse-based strategies.
Judge the impact of a blended strategy lesson using student work, discourse evidence, and quick checks to inform next steps.
Design a cohesive math lesson that intentionally combines visual models, manipulatives, number lines, technology, and discussion to deepen reasoning and sense making.
