Numeric rulers as manipulative material for teaching-learning basic facts of addition

Abstract

This article is the result of a research that aimed to evaluate the use of numerical rulers as a manipulative material to teach-learn the basic facts of addition. Thus, a didactic sequence was planned and implemented in the 1st year of elementary school. In its course, the numerical rulers were presented, manipulated and used as a support in different situations involving the basic facts of addition. This made it possible to identify its potentialities and limitations in the teaching and learning process of such object of knowledge. Regarding the potentialities, we emphasize the satisfaction by the students when they performed activities with the material, the overcoming of difficulties associated with the recognition of numbers from 1 to 10, the ease in identifying the addends present in the basic facts of addition and the significant improvement on students performance. Regarding the limitations, we highlight the price of the material, the initial difficulty of the students to identify that the square in which the number was registered was also part of the total quantity of the numerical ruler, the reduced size of the pieces for collective demonstrations and the lack of a mark on the 6 and 9 rulers to differentiate these numbers. That said, the limitations of the material become insignificant when comparing them to the potentialities identified in its use. Therefore, we conclude that numerical rulers can be considered a good option of manipulative material in the teaching process and in the learning of the basic facts of addition.