CRA provides a positive impact for students:

Concrete materials allow students to encode and retrieve information a variety of sensory options: visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic (Witzel, 2005).

Interaction with concrete materials enhance student retention of stepwise procedural options in mathematical problem solving .

Students who rely on memorizing procedural steps and lack the conceptual understanding related to foundational operations will not understand why steps are used (Manci, Miller, & Kennedy, 2012).

C-R-A Model

The Concrete-Representational-Abstract sequence of instruction is an intervention for math instruction.
It is a three-stage learning process where students learn through physical manipulation of concrete objects, followed by learning through pictorial representations of the concrete manipulations, and ending with solving problems using abstract notation (AMSTI).
CRA can be used in any grade level, in whole group and in small group instruction.
The goal is for teachers to allow multiple opportunities for practice and demonstration to help students achieve mastery of mathematical concepts.

Burner and Kenney (1965) defined learning through "Stages of Representation:"

Enactive, or learning through movement and action (NASOT, element 25).
Iconic, or learning through pictures
Symbolic, or learning through abstract symbols

Number Talk Strategies.pdf

Click this link for an example of each of the Number Talk Strategies listed!