Manipulatives Strategies
Manipulatives strategies use physical, three-dimensional objects (such as counters, blocks, plastic figures, models, sorting cards, and realia, meaning authentic real-world items) that students touch and move to make abstract concepts and new vocabulary concrete and observable. By pairing spoken and written words with hands-on objects, the strategy gives emergent bilingual students a non-linguistic anchor for meaning, so comprehension and academic talk do not depend solely on decoding unfamiliar English. Manipulatives function as a sensory scaffold within sheltered instruction, lowering the linguistic demand of a cognitively rich task while keeping the academic content intact. They primarily support reading (vocabulary, comprehension, and concept building) and speaking (describing, sequencing, justifying, and negotiating meaning with peers), and they naturally extend into listening and writing.
How it’s typically applied
- 1Review the upcoming unit and identify the key concepts and academic vocabulary that are most abstract or most likely to be unfamiliar, then decide which physical objects, models, or realia would make each concept observable.
- 2Locate or create the manipulatives and bring them into the lesson; display and clearly label each object with its English word (and, when possible, the home-language word) so the object, the printed word, and the spoken word are all connected.
- 3Introduce each object explicitly: hold it up, name it, model how to use it, and have students repeat the term and physically point to or move the object to confirm shared meaning.
- 4Provide sentence frames and a visual word bank tied to the objects (for example, This is a ___; I put the ___ next to the ___ because ___) so students have the language they need to talk while they manipulate.
- 5Set up structured peer interaction in which partners or small groups sort, build, sequence, or solve using the manipulatives while using the target vocabulary aloud; a thinking routine such as See, Think, Wonder keeps talk focused.
- 6Move students from hands-on action to language production: have them describe, explain, or write about what they did with the objects, then read their description back, reinforcing the link between the concrete experience and the printed word.
- 7Debrief as a whole group, inviting students to demonstrate with the objects as they explain their reasoning, and gradually fade reliance on the manipulatives as comprehension and academic language become secure.
Why it works for emergent bilingual students
Manipulatives give emergent bilingual students a meaning-bearing channel that does not require full English proficiency, which makes academic content comprehensible while their English continues to develop. In Cummins's terms, the objects make a cognitively demanding task context-embedded: the rich visual and tactile context supplies the extralinguistic cues learners need to engage grade-level concepts rather than being held back by language alone (Cummins, 2000). Dual coding theory explains why this works at the level of memory and learning: pairing a word with a concrete object engages both the verbal and the nonverbal (imagery) systems, and concrete, imageable referents are recalled and integrated into memory more reliably than words presented in the abstract, strengthening vocabulary retention (Clark & Paivio, 1991). The strategy is asset-based because it treats students as capable thinkers who already hold conceptual and cultural knowledge; the object simply opens a door for them to show what they know and to attach English (and their home language) to ideas they already possess. Because manipulatives let students act first and speak later, they create low-anxiety, comprehensible-input-rich opportunities and honor the silent period, allowing students to demonstrate understanding through physical response before they are ready to produce extended English (Asher, 1969; Krashen & Terrell, 1983). As learners act and then describe, the objects also anchor the meaningful interaction and academic talk that move students from single words toward extended discourse (Echevarria et al., 2017).
Adapting it across proficiency levels
Pre-Production
At Pre-Production, accept and build on the silent period: students show understanding by physically responding rather than speaking. Name and model with the object, then ask students to point to, pick up, hand you, sort, or arrange the manipulative in response to commands (a Total Physical Response approach). Pair every object with a clear label and gesture so meaning is fully visual and tactile. Success is demonstrated through correct physical action, not English production.
Beginning
At Beginning, students can produce single words and short phrases. Use the objects to elicit naming and one- to two-word descriptions, and provide simple sentence frames such as This is a ___ or The ___ is big. Have students label objects, repeat key terms while holding them, and chorally describe what they are doing. Continue pairing words with home-language labels and visuals so production is fully supported.
Intermediate
At Intermediate, students can produce simple sentences and are building academic vocabulary. Use manipulatives for structured partner tasks (sorting, sequencing, building) and provide expanded sentence frames that require comparison and reasoning, such as I put the ___ before the ___ because ___. Ask students to describe their process aloud and then write a short explanation, moving from doing with the object to talking and writing about it.
High Intermediate / Advanced
At High Intermediate and Advanced, gradually fade the manipulative as a temporary support and use it to anchor higher-order language: justifying, hypothesizing, and explaining cause and effect. Have students use the objects to model a concept, then teach or explain it to peers in extended academic discourse, and write analytical or argumentative responses with minimal sentence-frame support. The object becomes a springboard for sophisticated talk and writing rather than the primary source of meaning.
In the classroom
In a third-grade science unit on the water cycle, the teacher gives each small group a tray with realia and models: a small cup of water, a clear bag, ice cubes, a plastic sun, and labeled arrows for evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. The teacher names and demonstrates each step with the objects, then a Pre-Production student responds by placing the correct arrow as the teacher narrates, while a Beginning student labels the objects and says single words like water, cloud, rain. Intermediate students use the frame First the water ___, then it ___ to describe the cycle aloud to a partner, and High Intermediate and Advanced students use the model to explain to the class why condensation happens and write a short paragraph predicting what would change if there were no sun. Every student attaches the English (and Spanish) vocabulary to an object they can see and move, then talks and writes about it.
Research basis
Concrete, hands-on objects (realia and manipulatives) build vocabulary, comprehension, and background knowledge for English learners by making concepts multisensory, observable, and memorable, with a defined sequence for classroom use.
Colorín Colorado. (n.d.). Realia and manipulatives. WETA. Retrieved June 16, 2026, from https://www.colorincolorado.org/teaching-ells/ell-classroom-strategy-library/realia-and-manipulatives [link]
In the SIOP model of sheltered instruction, manipulatives and other hands-on materials are sensory scaffolds that make grade-level content comprehensible while developing academic English through meaningful interaction.
Echevarria, J., Vogt, M. E., & Short, D. J. (2017). Making content comprehensible for English learners: The SIOP model (5th ed.). Pearson.
Pairing language with physical objects and physical responses supports comprehension and early second language acquisition, especially for concrete nouns and action verbs, allowing learners to show understanding through action before speaking.
Asher, J. J. (1969). The total physical response approach to second language learning. The Modern Language Journal, 53(1), 3–17. https://doi.org/10.2307/322091 [link]
Comprehensible input and a respected silent period let learners build understanding before production; early language teaching can begin with comprehension and delayed speech rather than forced output.
Krashen, S. D., & Terrell, T. D. (1983). The natural approach: Language acquisition in the classroom. Pergamon Press.
Dual coding theory explains why concrete, imageable referents paired with words are learned and remembered better than abstract words alone, because both the verbal and nonverbal (imagery) systems are engaged.
Clark, J. M., & Paivio, A. (1991). Dual coding theory and education. Educational Psychology Review, 3(3), 149–210. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01320076 [link]
Embedding cognitively demanding academic tasks in a rich physical and visual context (for example, using math manipulatives) makes grade-level content accessible to bilingual learners while their academic language develops.
Cummins, J. (2000). Language, power and pedagogy: Bilingual children in the crossfire. Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853596773 [link]
Sources reviewed by an independent second-language-acquisition specialist and an adversarial citation audit.
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