Materiais didáticos de manipulação: uma experiência com alunos com síndrome de Down no ensino de adição.

Abstract

The present research aims to analyze the contributions of activities that involve the use of manipulable materials with students with Down’s Syndrome. We base this study on researches by Vale (2011), Lorenzato (2006), the National Curriculum of Basic Education (BRASIL, 2001) and others that address the importance of manipulable materials in Mathematics and Inclusive Education. We are also based on Constitutions and laws such as: Declaration of Salamanca (1994), National Curricular Parameters (1998), Law on Guidelines and Bases of National Education (2010), National Council of Justice (1989) among others, who defend and discuss Education Inclusive Mathematics Education and Down’s Syndrome. The research was carried out in a qualitative research modality. The research was carried out in an Association of Exceptional Parents and Friends (APAE), located in the Cariri Microregion of the State of Paraíba. The study was developed with 5 students with Down’s Syndrome, all of them with a medical certificate. The level of education of these students was of 4th year of elementary school. We chose to work with manipulative materials because several authors bring different conceptions about the importance of teaching mathematics using these materials. We realized that in the course of the research was an excellent didactic resource to work with people with disabilities and especially students with Down’s Syndrome. In this paper, we discuss a new proposal using manipulative materials in addition teaching in Inclusive Mathematics Education for the students' learning with Down’s Syndrome, that is, providing mathematical activities for students to develop concepts about soma. During the application of the activities it was possible to perceive difficulties and gaps in the students' development in the concept of addition because they did not know this operation and also because of the difficulty of the sequence and numerical association that they presented during the applications of the activities. But it was noticeable to observe that manipulative materials are of great importance in the education of these students, because after their use in the first application of the activity, it can be noticed through gestures and words of the students themselves the development of them in relation to the concept of sum, therefore, showed in the second activity a productive performance in both the sum, the sequence and the representation of numbers.