Virtual Manipulative: Base Blocks
The virtual manipulative that I ended up exploring was base blocks. The main goal of this virtual manipulative was to show students a number and have them express it through the base blocks. This manipulative ending up working better in some regards when compared to a concrete manipulative. One reason that it worked better is that it automatically checks your answer once the student has made it to the number presented, which cannot be done by concrete manipulatives. Another reason that it works better is that it continuously gives the students new patterns to figure out instantly. With concrete manipulatives the students have to wait until the teacher tells them the new number, usually meaning they are forced to wait while other students are