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Contents
I. Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 2
Addition with the Decimal System Material ................................................................................................ 41
Addition with the golden mat ....................................................................................................................... 43
Introduction to Stamp game ......................................................................................................................... 45
Formation of Quantity with the Stamp game .............................................................................................. 45

Introduction to Large Bead Frame .................................................................................................... 46

Introduction to Large Bead Frame Notation paper ...................................................................................... 48
Forming Quantities on the Large Bead Frame Notation paper ................................................................... 49
Dynamic Addition with the large Bead Frame ............................................................................................. 50
Static Addition with the large Bead Frame .................................................................................................. 51
Hierarchical Material ..................................................................................................................................... 52
Multiplication board using table sum card .................................................................................................. 53
Introduction to the Checkerboard ................................................................................................................ 54
Multiplication With The Checkerboard ........................................................................................................ 56
Presentation 1 ............................................................................................................................................... 56
Multiplication with the flat/Golden bead frame ......................................................................................... 57
Multiplication with the flat/Golden bead frame presentation 2 ................................................................ 59
Subtraction Strip board with table sum ....................................................................................................... 59

Subtraction with the golden mat ....................................................................... 60

Subtraction with the large Bead Frame ........................................................................................ 61

Division with the stamp game ............................................................................................... 62

Division with the Racks and tubes One digit divisor .................................................................................... 63
Division with the Racks and tubes Two and three digit divisor................................................................... 65

1
I. Introduction
The Montessori Math curriculum of Primary (ages 3-6),

Lower Elementary (ages 6-9), and Upper Elementary (9-12)

is arguably the most well-known aspect of Montessori

education. From the Golden Beads of Primary to the

Checkerboard in the Elementary program, Maria Montessori

used physical works with color-coded beads, blocks, and

stamps to teach children mathematical operations and

concepts. Montessori designed these works to lead children

on a journey, or passage, from concrete physical

manipulation to abstract thought about mathematics. She

achieved this through what we would call a “spiral

curriculum” that is sensitive to the developmental needs of

children of different ages and planes of development. In

Primary, the Binomial Cube is simply a puzzle for

2
children to explore; it remains just that until the child is

ready to manipulate the object for what it truly is: a

physical representation of (a + b) . As the child begins to

3

understand the logic of Binomials through practice with

this work, she eventually leaves the work behind. The

child has “spiraled” around from treating the Binomial

Cube as a puzzle to using it as a tool to learn an advanced

abstract concept appropriate to an Upper Elementary-aged

student.

The goal of all Montessori Math works is to serve as a

kind of “scaffolding” for the achievement of abstract

thought. Children first encounter operations and concepts

at the most basic physical level, and are carefully guided

through various works that meet them at their particular

stage of development. A Primary student may need the

3
Stamp Game for Static Addition, while a Second Grader

may need it for Dynamic Subtraction. The Upper

Elementary student will likely not need the Stamp Game at

all, but will need the Binomial Cube in order to

understand the volume patterns of the cubing equation.

Below, we articulate our “rationale” for why we teach

Mathematics according to this Montessori method. It is

comprehensive in scope, and it also attends to the details of

what we teach and when we teach it. This rationale

includes not only a discussion of the four basic Operations,

Fractions, and Decimals, but also an account of Math Facts

and the language and symbols of Mathematics as

fundamental to what we do. Finally, we have divided this

project into three discrete areas: Primary, Lower

Elementary, and Upper Elementary. Within each area,

4
attention is paid to Operations, Fractions, Decimals, Math

Facts, and the Language of Mathematics.

II. Math in 3-6 / Primary

The Mathematics curriculum in the Primary classroom

begins with the lessons of Practical Life. The four primary

aims of Practical Life are concentration, control, order, and

independence. Practical Life exercises are the humble

beginnings of these abilities, as the child practices the same

works over and over again and slowly begins to coordinate

his body and mind. The young three year-old who is able

to sit and pour or spoon for long periods of time is the same

student who can sit and do math work at age four. The

ability to carry out multi-step processes is refined and

5
strengthened, thus preparing the children for multi-step

work in mathematics.

The Sensorial materials introduce Primary students to

the shapes, patterns, and colors that will be revisited

throughout their Montessori journey. The children are

drawn to these concrete materials not because they are told

to play with it, but because their own internal clock is set

to yearn for sensorial activity. According to Maria

Montessori (1995), “the most important period of life is not

the age of universal studies, but the first one, the period

from birth to the age of six. For that is a time when man’s

intelligence itself, his greatest implement, is being formed”

(p. 22). Essentially, a child of this age forms himself

through experiences, and so the child will “enjoy doing the

work needed to complete himself” (p. 30). The Sensorial

6
area is therefore a foundational element for the Montessori

Math curriculum.

One of the most familiar of the Sensorial materials is

the Pink Tower, which is designed to demonstrate the

concepts of big and little. It is constructed according to the

base-10 (decimal) system so that the volume of each cube

grows 1 cm larger with each successive cube. The young

3

child knows nothing of these specific measurements; the

satisfaction from this work comes from the carrying of the

different cubes, feeling the weight and size differences in

the hand, and building the tower over and over again. The

Brown Stair is the sister work to the Pink Tower. This

material presents the child with the experiences of thick

and thin, as the stairs vary in size, with each stair getting

successively taller and longer than the one before it. The
7
child then discovers the Knobbed and Knobless Cylinders.

The cylinders contained in the blocks vary in length,

height, and thickness according to similar mathematical

progressions. The children experience what it means for

some things to be short and wide and others to be long and

thin.

Within the Sensorial curriculum, the child continues to

explore the roots of numbers. The child holds the Red

Rods, builds designs, and constructs mazes. The Red Rods,

for example, address the Primary student’s desire to explore

color and large items. These children are in a sensitive

period for order, and they enjoy laying the rods from

smallest to largest as well as largest to smallest. In doing so,

they are working on their own internal sense of

organization and concentration. They carry the rods and

8
feel their different lengths and weights. Next come the Red

and Blue rods, through which the child experiences

counting lessons guided by the color-coding of the rods.

These rods alternate between red and blue every ten

centimeters. Like the Red Rods, each rod is exactly 10

centimeters longer than the one before, and the tenth,

longest rod, is exactly 100 centimeters long. The child sees

the patterns of the colors and may notice that every other

rod ends with the same color (Shortest Rod: Red; Second

Shortest: Red and Blue; Third Shortest: Red, Blue, and Red,

etc.). Through repetition, the child understands that the

tenth, largest rod is actually as big as ten of the smallest

rods, and explores other patterns as well. The fact that

there are ten of these instills the foundation for the

decimal system. It is straightforward and irrefutable,

9
making it a perfect concrete example of the fundamental

concept of magnitude.

Maria Montessori’s spiral curriculum returns the student

to a similar action or material with an even greater depth

of understanding. Therefore, after the children have

performed actions with the rods, they can be shown the

Golden Bead material. This material is organized

deliberately and strictly by increments of ten. Ten unit

beads are pre-strung onto a wire. This makes a “ten bar.”

In turn, ten of these bars are wired together, creating a

“hundred square.” This pattern continues in which ten

“hundred squares” are woven together to create a “thousand

cube.” This pattern enriches and develops the child’s

understanding of decimal value. The children can

10
literally build numbers by grouping the Golden Bead

materials together.

Further, the children are taught to exchange 10 of one

size for 1 of a size larger. This is the physical performance

of exchanging. The children learn to visualize exchanging

in physical terms, which prepares their minds for later

work with the dynamic works of Lower Elementary. Above

all, Maria Montessori created the Golden Bead work to

explain how things are done in mathematics. Children at

this age want to know why something is done a certain

way, and this work shows why ten units are actually a

single ten. This groundbreaking idea addresses the question

of “Why?” and empowers the child to explore the patterns

of numbers.

11
 The Wooden Hierarchical material enriches the child’s

mathematical mind as well. This material reflects both the

rod materials and the Golden Beads in the fact that the

“unit” cube is a tenth of the size of a “ten” bar, which is

essentially a small rod itself. The pattern of moving up one

place in the decimal system continues, and the size of each

piece is accurately constructed according to its position in

the hierarchy up to one million, which is a very large cube

that represents a million original unit cubes. The Wooden

Hierarchical material is breathtaking, even to adults.

Through scale-size wooden boxes, it shows the relative size

of what each numeric decimal value represents from the

unit all the way to one million. A small child who is

priming his muscles for future work craves the work of

lifting the million cube. The child also learns through

12
movement; the balancing, walking and lifting all of the

Wooden Hierarchical pieces hard-wires the child with a

more comprehensive knowledge of place value.

Finally, the Sensorial area includes the Binomial and

Trinomial Cubes. These materials represent the algebraic

functions of (a+b) and (a+b+c) , respectively. At the

3 3

Primary level, they are puzzles, and are treated as such.

There is no discussion given to the function of the pieces.

However, those seeds are sown that will be revisited later

on in Upper Elementary. Above all, the Sensorial materials

introduce patterns, as illustrated by the colors, shapes, and

sizes of the works found in these curriculum areas. The

ability to recognize and understand patterns is critical to

the child’s ability to understand mathematical concepts.

13
 Upon the foundation of Practical Life and Sensorial,

Montessori Guides begin to teach the logic behind the four

operations, beginning with the Logical Quantification

Lesson. This lesson exposes the child to the concepts of

“different,” “more than,” “less than,” “the same,” etc.

There are no numbers in this presentation. Next, Guides

prepare their students to understand the numbers and

qualities of 1-10 by isolating one concept to be presented

in each lesson. They divide the learning process into 1-10,

then the teens, then the tens, and then on to all other

numbers. In this way, they are able to ascertain that the

student has a firm grasp on the concepts being presented

before moving on to the following ones. Guides employ a

number of materials in the presentations for learning

number names, which is another necessary step before the

14
teaching of the operations. Among them are the Red and

Blue Rods, the Sandpaper Numerals, the Spindle Boxes,

and the Number Roll.

Next, the curriculum moves on to linear counting

through the Bead Stair, the Teens Board, the Tens Board,

Numeral Booklets, the Hundred Board, and the Snake

Game. For example, the first passage of the Positive Snake

Game teaches the children to make tens with different

combinations of beads (1-9; 2-8; 3-7; 4-6; 5-5), which

are exchanged for golden ten-bars. There is a simple

addition of the beads, along with the recognition that

certain colored groups of beads form one golden ten bead.

Guides introduce the Bead Cabinet as well. This teaches

the students to count unit (single beads) and skip count

with successively larger quantities from 2 to 9. The Bead

15
Cabinet prepares the children for skip counting (ex: 3, 6, 9,

12, 15, 18, etc.), the most basic way of teaching

Multiplication through Addition.

Primary children begin work in the operations upon

these foundations. In most Montessori schools, the order of

operations is Addition, followed by Multiplication,

Subtraction, and Division. This work begins with an

Introduction to Addition, which involves the use of some

interesting objects to count, along with an introduction to

the symbols of Math. These include the plus sign (+) and

the equals (=) sign. These first lessons do not go above the

sum of 9 because the child needs a firm grasp of the

concept of putting things together. Guides then use the Red

and Blue Rods to add quantities together, followed by the

16
Addition Strip Board, the Bead Bars, the Golden Bead

materials, and finally the Stamp Game.

Students next learn how to add without “carrying.”

This is called “Static” Addition. Once the students have

mastered that concept, the Guides present the “Dynamic”

version of Addition, which involves going past 10, and

having to “carry to” the next higher order. The Golden

Beads give a very concrete and visual representation of

numbers, and the numbers can get very large. The child

may take most of the morning work cycle to do only a few

problems. Subtraction follows the same pattern as

Addition (from “Static” to “Dynamic” Subtraction that

involves borrowing from a higher place value), and the

same sequence of materials and lessons are applied. The

Golden Beads again provide a wonderful visual and actual

17
representation of this process in action. Both

Multiplication and Division can be introduced in

Primary, depending on whether a student is ready. The

Golden Beads are used to introduce these operations.

Guides may then connect the skip counting of Addition

with the bead chains (2, 4, 6, 8; 3, 6, 9, 12, etc.) to the

process of Multiplication.

Like the operations, the approach to Fractions at the

Primary level is sensorial. For example, there are Fraction

Skittles and the Fraction Circles on the shelves, but these

are utilized more to have the children touch, feel, and see

what fractions really are. These materials are more

impressionistic than anything else, but children can use

them while adding fractions if they are ready for advanced

work at the Primary level.

18
 The study of Math Facts begins in the Primary

environment through basic memory and pattern recognition

work, not rote memorization of Math Facts in abstract form.

The process of memorization comes at a later stage of

development and is neither expected nor emphasized in the

Primary environment. However, the skills of pattern

recognition are aided by the child’s sensitivity to language

during this period. Montessori guides support and nurture

these skills by giving the child more and more complex

instructions to follow and using memory games and

activities, such as the Fetching Game, the Bank Game and

the 45-Layout. Both the Fetching and Bank Games ask the

child to “hold on” (in memory) to a number in order to

“retrieve” it. Through these two games, the child builds a

motor memory of quantity and the language that represents

19
that quantity. The 45-Layout beautifully brings together

the quantity, symbol, and natural patterns of mathematics.

The child lays out the Golden Beads in units, tens,

hundreds, and thousands in order from 1 to 9. Through

movement and pattern recognition, the child builds

quantities and symbols from 1-9000. Through this and

other works, the Guide will provide opportunities for the

child to write or record patterns in various ways.

The child’s sensitivity to language also creates the

conditions for basic fluency in the vocabulary and symbols

of Mathematics. As noted above, the Guide is charged with

creating a language-rich environment through concept-

specific vocabulary (“sum,” “difference,” “product,” etc.)

and symbolic language (+, -, =, etc.) that the children will

take with them into Lower Elementary. These words and

20
symbols become important for later abstract comprehension,

and Montessori guides must use them with precision.

III. Math in 6-9 / Lower Elementary

Math in the Lower Elementary continues what began in

the Primary environment, and the Montessori Math

curriculum spirals around children who have entered the

relatively calm stage of development from ages 6 to 9. These

children are very hungry for knowledge, and they express

their curiosity by diving into the Math works. Fortunately,

many of the math materials and lessons are the same as

those used in Primary, but are now used in ways that

appeal to the mathematical mind of the young elementary

child. These children ask pointed questions and are eager

to sort, classify, and understand their world. They begin to

understand how numbers interact and how important

21
numbers are to their daily lives. Overall, this second plane

of development is a time of tremendous stability and growth

in the Montessori Mathematics curriculum.

Like the Primary classroom, there is a sequential order

of materials and lessons in the Lower Elementary that lead

the children from the concrete to abstract through stages

until the child internalizes mathematical concepts. Works

like the Stamp Game, the Small and Large Bead Frames,

and the Pegboard engage the senses of the children through

individual beads, bead bars, small wooden squares (actual

stamps in Montessori’s day), and color-coded skittles and

tiles that indicate place value. For these works, units are

green, tens are blue, hundreds are red, units of thousands

are green, tens of thousands are blue, etc. through the green

units of millions. The critical work of the hand continues

22
unabated, for as Maria Montessori (1972) argues, “this

system in which a child is constantly moving objects with

his hands and actively exercising his senses, also takes into

account a child’s special aptitude for mathematics. When

they leave the material, the children very easily reach the

point in where they wish to write out the operation.” (p.

279).

Primary students are impressed by the Wooden

Hierarchical material, and Lower Elementary students

review the basic hierarchy of numbers. Guides may begin

with the Wooden Hierarchical material, but at this point a

new work is available to Lower Elementary Guides: Infinity

Street. Infinity Street introduces the children to the Simple

Family of ones, tens, and hundreds, who live in a “house,”

and then moves on to the Thousands family, the Millions

23
Family, the Billions Family, and so forth to the Sextillions

Family or beyond, all of which share the same pattern of

units, tens, and hundreds as the Wooden Hierarchical

material. Between each house are “mailboxes,” or commas,

which both add a point of interest and lay the foundation

for the proper use of commas when writing larger numbers.

Like the Wooden Hierarchical material, Infinity Street

teaches both the patterns and the color codes that lay at the

foundation of the Lower Elementary Math materials.

Unlike the earlier work, however, Infinity Street leaves the

unmistakable impression that numbers can get infinitely

larger.

Upon the foundation of these impressionistic works,

students in Lower Elementary quickly begin exploring the

operations with the Golden Beads. Static Addition is

24
addressed first as a review and preparation for the works

that follow. Next, Guides introduce the Stamp Game and

begin work on Static Addition with the students. The

Golden Mat may also be used to teach Static Addition, and

like the Stamp Game, this work shares the same color-

coding system. Through Static Addition, students learn

how to solve 3+6 and 30 + 60, which they must know

before they can move on to 4+6 or 40 +60.

When students have mastered Static Addition, they are

ready for its Dynamic counterpart. At this point, Guides

use works like the Stamp Game to enable the child to

realize that she must exchange, or “carry over” after

reaching ten. Eventually, the child will be able to add

incredibly large numbers on the basis of this lesson because

the child knows that whenever a 9 is reached, it is time to

25
“carry over” to the next column of place value. Ones carry

over to tens, tens to hundreds, hundreds to thousands, etc.

Guides employ several works to this end, including the

Golden Beads and the Stamp Game, the first two works in

Dynamic Addition. For example, the Stamp Game

reinforces the decimal system, as each tile has a particular

place value written on it (1, 10, 100, 1000). There is no

“twenty” tile, as the child must construct twenty from two

“tens” tiles. In this manner, the material is new but the

process is familiar. It repeats the exchanging procedure

used in the Golden Beads work and exemplifies the

Montessori concept of isolation of difficulty.

Guides then move on to other works to teach Dynamic

Addition, including the Golden Mat, and the Small and

Large Bead Frames. The Small and Large Bead Frames are
26
somewhat of a special case, however, given the level of

concentration and careful hand movement that they

require with respect to the process of carrying over. As

such, many Guides present Static Addition on the Small

Bead Frame before moving again to Dynamic Addition with

these works. The bead frames highlight the exchanging

process through the use of the hand in two different

directions. These hand movement of sliding beads to carry

or, conversely, to borrow, serves as a point of interest with

these works. In addition, the Dot Board may be used to

help students who still need help with the logic of carrying

over. Students are also ready to add with the Snake Game,

with which they previously had used to build tens out of

the colored bead bars in Primary. Now, students learn how

to use placeholders as they build numbers larger than ten.

27
 At the Lower Elementary level, there are two paths open

to the Montessori Guide after Static and Dynamic Addition:

Subtraction or Multiplication. There are arguments for

both positions. Multiplication of whole numbers is the

addition of multiples of the same number. 3 x 3 is the

same as 3 + 3 + 3. Many Lower Elementary Guides favor

Multiplication because of the Primary beadwork, which

teaches the addition of multiples through “skip-counting.”

However, other Guides favor Subtraction because it is the

opposite of Addition; it takes away from a number instead

of adding to it. Moreover, the Subtraction works are the

Addition works with presentations in the same order (Static

to Dynamic with Golden Beads, Stamp Game, Golden Mat,

Small and Large Bead Frames). No new works need to be

introduced (e.g. the Checkerboard), and thus there is a level

28
of comfort among the students. Finally, many Lower

Elementary Guides favor Subtraction because of the

eventual introduction of Fractions later in the three-year

cycle. Fractions are not whole numbers, and when

multiplied, they become smaller instead of larger (ex. 1/8 x

1/8 = 1/64). In this case, multiplying a number does not

make it larger. With the Subtraction of Fractions, however,

the difference is always smaller than the minuend, thus

maintaining the fundamental logic of whole number

Subtraction.

Work in Multiplication begins with the Golden Beads,

followed by the Stamp Game, the Golden Mat, and the

Small and Large Bead Frames. New works are introduced

as well, including the Peg Board, which is used for

supplemental works in finding Greatest Common Factors

29
and Least Common Multiples. Guides take students through

several “passages” with these works that both increase the

level of difficulty and bring the child closer to abstraction.

For example, the Guide introduces the Checkerboard by

laying out the pattern of units, tens, and hundreds, etc.,

and eventually teaches the child how to write partial

products and multiply with 3-digit multipliers and 4 or

5-digit multiplicands. For most students, the final

Multiplication work before abstraction is the Flat, or

Golden, Bead Frame. This work removes the scaffolding of

the colored units, tens, and hundreds beads. Along with

the Checkerboard “slide,” this work teaches the

fundamental importance of the placeholder 0 in each

successive partial product beginning with the unit place for

30
the second partial product of a 2-digit x 2-digit

multiplication problem (ex. 12 x 12 = 24 + 120 = 144).

Division is the final operation that taught in the Lower

Elementary, and it differs from the other operations in a

very significant way. Addition, Subtraction, and

Multiplication are calculated through from the lowest place

value to the highest, while the logic of Division demands

that the quotient be found by starting with the highest

place value and calculating down to the lowest place value.

Take 244 divided by 2 as an example. Abstract long

division in written form requires that the hundreds place

of the dividend (200) be divided into 2 groups of 100

before the tens place of the dividend (40) is divided into 2

groups of 20, which must take place before the units place

of the dividend (4) is divided into 2 groups of 2. The

31
answer is 122, that is, the amount that each group gets.

Montessori Division works deal with this logic through

Division presentations with the Stamp Game, the Golden

Mat, and Racks and Tubes (Test Tube Division), and Guides

often use the language of “fairness” with their students to

emphasize that each group receives the same amount.

There are far fewer Division works than works in the other

operations, and this reflects the power of the 6-9 Math

sequence. Division requires the skill sets taught by all the

previous works as well as work in Multiplication Math

Facts.

Fractions lessons deepen in complexity as children move

into the Lower Elementary. The Fraction lessons start from

the Fraction Skittles, and through these the students are

introduced to one whole, two halves (2/2), three thirds

32
(3/3) and four quarters (4/4). Children are also

introduced to equivalencies as well. The red Fraction

Circles begin this process; this material has ten circles and

each successive circle is broken down into halves, thirds,

fourths, fifths, sixths, sevenths, eighths, ninths, and tenths.

Through the Fraction Circles, 2/2 is shown to be the same

as 3/3, 4/4, 5/5, etc. The metal fraction insets reinforce

this work by demonstrating, for example, that 2/4 fits

exactly into the space for ½. Fractions are often taught

through Practical Life exercises as well. For example,

children have the opportunity to work with an apple cutter

to divide the apple into two halves, or into four quarters.

For students who are ready to move on from visual

quantity to something more abstract, Guides may use money

to teach fractions by showing the children that four

33
quarters is equal to one whole dollar. Here, the fractional

quality is not represented visually, but abstracted to

quantity. Finally, Guides continue the movement to

abstraction by showing students how to write fractions.

Math Facts are very important at the Lower Elementary

level, and materials are used to reinforce the work being

done through the Stamp Game, the Bead Frames, the

Golden Mat, the Checkerboard, and other materials. Math

Facts at this level are not about rote memorization through

abstract means (copying multiplication tables, for example),

but about muscle memory and excitement born of

engagement with the materials. As such, the goal of a

three-year cycle with exposure to memorization materials

allows students to truly internalize mathematical concepts.

34
 Memorization of math facts follows the same pattern as

work with operations, that is, from the concrete to the

abstract. This work relies heavily on the hands as the

conduit of the learning process. Students have been

familiar with the Bead Cabinet since Primary, and this

work aids in the work of the hand in building muscle

memory. Through the beads, the children have a concrete

way to skip count, learn squares of numbers, and then

cubes. Further, the Hundred Board reviews the basics of

counting and demonstrates the visual pattern of the

decimal system; this work may have been introduced to

many children in Primary. The Addition, Subtraction,

and Multiplication finger charts teach students to literally

pinpoint answers by using their fingers to draw an

imaginary line to the number at the intersection of those

35
two lines; in the case of 8 x 8, the fingers lead to the

number 64. These charts are sequenced to approach

abstraction, beginning with a full chart and moving

toward partial charts, thus showing the commutative

property of addition and multiplication.

The Snake Game also allows more repetition of Math

Facts in a “game” format. The initial Positive Snake Game

from Primary reminds students of all the combinations of

the numbers 1-9 that add up to ten. The next passage of

the Positive Snake Game, introduced in Lower Elementary,

helps students build tens from bead bars that do not

conveniently add up to ten (e.g, a 2-bead bar next to a 7-

bead bar next to a 3-bead bar). The student builds a ten

bar from the 2+7+3, and has a 2 bead left over. The

student then takes the placeholder bar for the number 2

36
from the black and white placeholder bead stair and adds

it to the next bead bar in the “snake,” and repeats the

process until the colored bead bars have all been exchanged

for golden ten-bead bars at the end of the “snake.”

Students then check their work by matching all the golden

ten-bead bars with the colored bead bars. Guides thus

reinforce basic Math Facts through an interesting game that

allows children to build “snakes” out of golden beads.

Memorization materials in the Lower Elementary

classroom prepare students for work in the Upper

Elementary. A good working knowledge of Math Facts

makes the operations within more difficult problems (Word

Problems, Algebra, Statistics, etc.) easier to complete. In

other words, students can focus on what is new in these

problems because the Math Facts are taken for granted as

37
knowledge that is “given.” Consequently, the children do

not feel overwhelmed, and can focus on the novel elements

of more advanced mathematical concepts such as the

balancing of equations in Algebra. The Negative Snake

Game is an excellent example of a memory “game” work

that can help with the logic of Algebra because it uses

equal quantities of opposing signs that cancel each other

out.

The vocabulary of Mathematics in the Lower Elementary

begins with the Great Lesson commonly known as the Story

of Numbers. This historical account of how people thought

about quantities and the symbols for those quantities

impresses upon the students that Mathematics is necessarily

expressed through spoken and written language. The

students learn that we use Arabic numbers as well as

38
certain symbols that mean very specific things. The

children already know the Addition (+) and Subtractions

(-) signs, and may know the common Multiplication sign

(x). Guides teach the signs for Division at this level, the

obelus (÷) and the traditional angled lines ( |¯¯¯¯¯¯ ),

through the passages of the Stamp Game, the Golden Mat,

and the Racks and Tubes that lead closer and closer to

abstraction. Most importantly, Lower Elementary Guides

teach the specific vocabulary of each operation as they

present the various passages through the Math works. For

Addition, two or more “addends” form a “sum,” while in

Subtraction, the “subtrahend” is the number that is

subtracted from the “minuend,” and what is left is called

the “difference.” For Multiplication, the “multiplicand” is

typically the first number in visual order of two numbers

39
being multiplied ( 8 x 2 = 16 ), while the other number,

usually written below or after it, is the “multiplier” ( 8 x 2

= 16). Their answer is called the “product” ( 8 x 2 = 16 ).

Finally, the language of Division includes the “dividend,”

which is the number to be divided ( 22 ÷ 2 = 11 ) ,

and the “divisor,” the number dividing it ( 22 ÷ 2 =11 ).

The answer is called the “quotient” ( 22 ÷ 2 = 11 ).

Other common symbols used in the Lower Elementary

Math Curriculum include the “equal to” (=), “greater than”

(>), and less than (<) symbols, which are later expanded

upon in Upper Elementary to include the additional logic

of “or equal to,” as in “greater than or equal to” (≥) and

“lesser than or equal to” (≤). Students learn about money,

and therefore learn the sign for dollars ($) and cents (¢);

Guides may teach students that the word “cent” comes from
40
the Latin word for 100, “centum.” Finally, when students

begin to explore fractions, Guides introduce the terms

“numerator” and “denominator” to prepare students for

later work in addition and subtraction of fractions. The

term “common denominator” only makes sense when

students understand that the denominator is the number

under the line in a fraction

Addition with the Decimal System Material

Lessons beforehand:

 Multiplication board using

table sum card

Material:

 Decimal system material

 Problem cards

41
Presentation:

1. Invite the child to the activity. Tell him what we are

going to work with.
2. Ask him to put the green felt with TH/H/T/U on
the table.
3. Show him where we keep the material and how
to hold the sheet.
4. Teacher: ‘’Today we are going to work with
addition problems; Can you please read the numbers?’’
5. Teacher points and child reads. The child places
the beads of the 1st number on the felt starting from the
thousands
6. The teacher asks the child to get the
corresponding beads of the first number from the bank.
7. Now the child is asked to prepare the second
number from the bank.
8. The child places the beads of the second number
on the felt starting from the thousands
9. “Now can you please add 6 to 3.”
10. “Can you please push them down altogether then
count?”
11. “Now would you please record your answer?”

12. The child records his answer.

13. “Now Can you do the same with the tens?” the teacher
asks.
14. The child pushes the tens together and counts them.
15. “Now would you please record your answer?”
42
16. “Now Can you do the same with the hundreds?”
17. The child pushes the hundreds together and counts
them.
18. Now would you please record your answer?”
19. “Now Can you do the same with the thousands?”
20. The child pushes the thousands together and counts
them.
21. “Now would you please record your answer?”
22. Teacher points: “So when we added 2456 to 3213 we
got 5669.”
23. Then the teacher turns the series card and asks the
child: “Would you like to check your answer?”

Control of Error:

 The guide.
 The number of beads.

Addition with the golden mat

Lessons beforehand:

 Addition with golden

beads
 Stamp game
 Small bead frame
 Large bead frame

Materials needed:
43
  Golden mat
 Bead bar box
 Addition problems

Presentation:

1. Invite the child to the lesson.

2. Ask the child to choose a problem card.
3. Ask the child to make the first addend on the golden
mat, starting with the units.
4. Ask the child to make the second addend below the
first addend leaving small space between the two
addends.
5. Explain that now; you will combine the beads in each
column.
6. Start with the unit’s column, and slide the bead bars
on the top, combining them with the bottom bead bars
7. Combine the bead bars in the ten’s column, though the
million’s if there is any, notice any exchange needed,
in case we have in the unit’s place 4 in the first
addend, and 8 in the second addend, explain to the
child that the answer is 12, this means one unit in the
tens column, and two units in the units column.
8. Ask the child to read the quantity on the Golden Mat,
and record the answer in under the problem as the
sum.
44
Control of Error:

 The color coded golden mat.

 Problem cards need to have the answer on the back.
Introduction to Stamp game
Lessons beforehand:

 Golden Bead material.

Materials needed:

 The golden bead presentation tray.

 The stamp game material.

Presentation:

1. Invite the child to the lesson.

2. Review the golden bead value with the child.
3. Introduce the green unit stamp and compare it
with the Golden unit bead, ex: this is one unit,
this is the symbol for one unit, it means one
unit.
4. Continue in this manner with each place value, tens, hundreds, and
then thousands.
5. Have the child match each tile to the corresponding bead.
6. Perform Three period lesson for each tile (show me ten, what is this).
Formation of Quantity with the Stamp game
Lessons beforehand:

 Golden Bead material.

45
Materials needed:

 The stamp game material.

 Number cards.

Presentation:

1. Invite the child to the lesson.

2. Select a numeral from the number slips.

3. Build the quantity using the stamp game tiles in order, starting with
the units.
4. Invite the child to count the stamps tiles and determine the quantity in
order starting from the units.
5. Read the quantity from the card, and have the child read the stamp tiles
from left to right.
6. Have the child compare the two numbers.
7. Invite the child to build a new number using the
numeral slips, and read it.
8. Ask the child to build the same number using the stamp game.
9. Continue as long as the child seems interested in the work.

Introduction to Large Bead Frame

Lessons beforehand:

 Decimal system with the golden beads

 Stamp game.

46
  Small bead frame.

Materials needed:

 Large Bead frame.

 Hierarchical material.

Presentation:

10. Invite the child to the lesson.

11. Have all the beads on the left side of the frame.
12. Take the first unit bead to the right and say “ this unit bead,
represents the green unit cube.” Pointing to the green unit cube in the
hierarchical material.
13. Move the ten’s bead and say” this tens bead, represents the tens
bar.” Pointing to the ten bar from the hierarchical material.
14. Continue for all the other beads on the bead frame, matching with
its corresponding from the hierarchical material.
15. Help the child identify the simple family, the thousand family,
and the million family, explaining the spaces in the frame to separate
different families and this is where the commas are in notation.
16. Move the beads to the left, move one bead from any family, and ask
for its corresponding from the hierarchical material.
Control of Error:

 The color coding.

 The guide.

47
 Introduction to Large Bead Frame Notation paper
Lessons beforehand:

 Large bead frame.

 Child should be able to form numerals using a pencil.

Materials needed:

 The large bead frame.

 Notation paper for the large bead frame. (Downloadable from

resources)

Presentation:

1. Invite the child to the lesson.

2. Review with the child each category of the large bead from.
3. Invite the child to form a number on the frame.
4. Say to the child “Now we are going to learn how to write these numbers
on special kind of paper! It is made especially for the bead frame.”
5. Move one green unit bead to the right side, then write one in the first
column of the sheet from the right, explain that you are writing on the
line rather than the box, the same as the bead on the wire.
6. Exchange the ten green unit beads for one blue ten bead, then write one
on the line for the tens on the paper. (start the 1 ten from where you left
off from the units, do not start from the beginning of the tens columns.
7. Continue to the millions.

48
 8. Fill in all the zeros for the tens, hundreds, thousands, millions in red.

Control of Error:

 The color coding on the bead frame.

Forming Quantities on the Large Bead Frame Notation paper

Lessons beforehand:

 Large bead frame.

 Large bead frame Notation paper introduction.

Materials needed:

 Large bead frame.

 Large bead frame Notation paper.

Presentation:

1. Invite the child to the lesson.

2. Form quantities on the bead frame, and ask the child to read it.
3. Record it on the notation paper.
4. Form another quantity on the frame, and ask the child to read it.
5. Have the child record it on the notation paper.
6. Write a numeral on the notation paper, ask the child to read it, and form
it on the bead frame.
7. Ask the child to form the quantity, read it, and then record it on paper.

49
Control of Error:

 Color coding on the bead frame, and notation paper.

Dynamic Addition with the large Bead Frame

Lessons beforehand:

 Addition with the Golden bead

 Stamp game
 Small bead frame
 Introduction to the Large bead frame
 Hierarchical material.
 Introduction to Large bead frame
Notation paper.

Materials needed:

 Large bead frame.

 Large bead frame Notation paper, with Dynamic addition problem on it,
using the Millions beads up to the units.
Presentation:

1. Invite the child to the lesson.

2. Make the first addend on the large bead frame, starting with the units.
3. Start adding the second addend, starting with the units, and moving
one bead at a time.
4. In case of having any 10 beads of any value, we need to exchange them
with one upper value, Ex; if we have ten hundred’s beads on the right side
of the frame, we need to put them back to the left, and exchange them
with one thousands.
5. Record your answer on the notation paper.

50
Control of Error:

 The bead frame Notation paper.

Static Addition with the large Bead Frame
Lessons beforehand:

 Addition with the Golden bead

 Stamp game
 Small bead frame
 Introduction to the Large bead frame
 Hierarchical material.
 Introduction to Large bead frame Notation paper.

Materials needed:

 Large bead frame.

 Large bead frame Notation paper, with addition problem on it, using the
Millions beads up to the units.
Presentation:

1. Invite the child to the lesson.

2. Make the first addend on the large bead frame, starting with the units.
3. Start adding the second addend, starting with the units, and moving one
bead at a time.
4. Add the tens through millions.
5. Record your answer on the notation paper.

Control of Error:

 The large bead frame notation paper.

51
 Hierarchical Material
Lessons beforehand:

 Golden bead decimal system.

 Small bead frame.
 Stamp game.

Materials needed:

 The hierarchical materials.

 Seven Cards, Black printed (1,000,000 100,000, 10,000, 1000, 100, 10,

1)
Presentation:

6. Invite the child to the lesson.

7. Compare the unit, ten, hundred thousand with the golden bead material.
8. Show the rest of the beads, and compare them to the hierarchical material.
9. Explain that each value is equal to ten of the previous value.
10. Put the simple family unit, the thousand unit, and the million together,
and explain that they are units of something.
11. Do the same for the tens, place all the ten bards together, and explain
they are tens.
12. Do the same for the hundred square.
13. Do three period lesson, and help the child learn each order.

Control of Error:

 The size of the each order in the hierarchical material compared to the one
after or before it.

52
 Multiplication board using table sum card

Lessons beforehand:

 Subtraction strip board with table sum.

Materials:

 Multiplication board
 Problem cards

Lesson:

1. Invite the child to the activity. Tell

him what we are going to work with.
2. Show him where we keep the material.
3. Ask him to prepare his working area.
4. Show him how to hold the board.
5. The teacher says: “Today we are going to work with multiplication
problems."
6. The teacher places the material as shown.
7. The teacher asks the child: “Can you read the first one?” The child
answers:
"2 x 1 =."
8. The teacher asks the child: “Can you read the first one?” The child
answers:
"2 x 1 =."

9. “2 ×1 so we’ll put the counter here”.

Then she asks the child: "Can you get the beads and put 2 beads one time
here?”
10. The child places it.
11. The teacher points and says: "So 2 times 1."
12. The teacher points and says: ‘’Can you count this?"
13. The child count then says “2”.
53
 14. The teacher says “so 2x1= ?”
15. Child answers 2.
16. The child records his answer.
17. The teacher asks the child: "Can you please read the next one?”
18. the child says: "2x2= .."
19. The teacher says: "So we are going to get two 2 times so we can put
the counter here”.
20. The teacher asks the child: “Can you add 2 here?”
21. The child places the beads.
22. The teacher asks the child: “Can you count them all together?”
23. The child counts then says "4."
24. The teacher says: "So 2 x 2 = 4."
25. The child records his answer and so on.
26. The child continues till he finishes the table sum.
27. Then the teacher asks him to clean up.
28. At the end the teacher asks the child to check his answers.

Introduction to the Checkerboard

Lessons beforehand:

 Working with quantities.

 Stamp game
 Large and small bead frame

Materials needed:

 The checkerboard.
 Colored bead box.
 Number tile box. (3 sets of white tiles, labeled from 1 to 9, to represent the
multiplicand, and 3 sets of gray tiles labeled from 1 to 9 to represent the
multiplied.)
54
Presentation:

1. Invite the child to the lesson.

2. Start introducing the green square tile at the bottom right corner.
3. Tell the child the value of each square while pointing at it.
4. Move to the second row from the bottom; explain that it starts with ten.
5. Explain that the ten in the second row is the same as ten in the first row.
6. Name each square in the second row; relate it to the corresponding one in
the first row.
7. Do the same for the rest of the rows.
8. Choose one number and ask the child to point at the value square that it
represents. Ex, three thousand, the child needs to point at the green
thousand square.
9. Choose a bead bard, ex: four yellow bar, and say this is four, then put it
in the hundred place and say, this is four hundred, since it is put in the
hundred square.
10. Move the four yellow bead bar to the thousand square, and ask the
child, about its value. (4000)
11. Repeat this step for different bead bards.
12. Ask the child to represent the value 700, using the bead bars.
13. Make a more difficult number on the checkerboard, using two bars,
placing them on the units and tens place from the bottom row.
14. Ask the child, “what is this number?”, Record the number on a
board, add another number in the hundred square, ask the child what is
this number now, then record the third number next to the other two in
order.
15. Move each bar one square to the left, ask the child for the value of
the number now.
16. Record the number on the board, placing the zero in the units place.
17. Continue moving the bars until you reach the limit of the board.

18. Repeat these steps moving the bars up one row, at a time, to
demonstrate that moving up on the checkerboard multiplies by 10.

19. Continue doing the same steps for this row, moving up one row, to
demonstrate that the next row is multiplying by 100.

55
Control of Error:

The guide.
The color coding on the checkerboard

Multiplication With The Checkerboard

Presentation 1
Lessons beforehand:

 Multiplication with the golden beads.

 Multiplication with the Stamp game.
 Bead frames.
 Peg board.
 Golden mat.

Materials needed:

 Checkerboard
 Check board tiles box
 Bead bars box
 Problem cards, EX 46 x 1234

Presentation:

1. Invite the child to the lesson.

2. Form the multiplicand with the white tiles horizontally on the
checkerboard. Ex; 1234 (guide will get the white tile with green four on
it, white tile with blue three on it, white tile with red two on it, white tile
with green thousand on it.)
3. Form t he multiplier using the gray tiles, placed vertically on the right
side of the checkerboard, while turning over the 4 in the multiplier as
you won’t be using it first.

56
 4. Multiply each digit in the multiplicand by the units in the multiplier.
(you can use another terminology if the child has not memorized his/her
time table, you will get six 4 bar, etc.
5. Turn over the unit gray tile(6), to indicate completion of this portion of
the problem.
6. Turn over the multiplier for the tens place (4), and multiply each digit
in the multiplicand by tens.
7. After finishing multiplying the multiplicand with the tens multiplier,
slide all the like orders diagonally from upper right to lower left to the
first row.
8. Combine bead bars starting in the units place and exchange to the next
place value, ex; if you have 6 four bards in the units square, exchange
with 2 in tens, and four in the units.)
9. Continue the process for all place value in the first row, exchanging if
necessary.
10. Ask the child to record the product.

Control of Error:

 Checkerboard color coding, and tiles.

 Problem cards should be with an answer key.

Multiplication with the flat/Golden bead frame

Lessons beforehand:

 Multiplication with the golden beads

 Multiplication with the stamp game
 Multiplication with the golden mat
 Multiplication with the bead frames
 Multiplication with the checkerboard

57
Materials needed:

 Flat bead frame.

 Grey cards, color coded for each place value.
 Multiplication paper strips. (in the resources)
Presentation:

1. Invite the child to the lesson.

2. Make sure the beads are at the top of the frame close.
3. Place the multiplier on the right hand side matching the color coding of
each place value (the unit’s card is on the bottom green dot, the ten’s card
is on the blue dot, etc.)
4. Place the multiplicand using the white tiles/cards at the bottom of the
frame, lining up the numbers with the cards on the bead frame
according to the place value.
5. Turn over the grey card for the tens place.
6. Multiply by bringing down the right number of beads. (Ex: 2 x 4= 8)
bring down one 8 unit beads.
7. Do not record the partial products.
8. Turn over the grey cards for the unit, and turn over the grey card of the
tens to work on it.
9. Move the multiplicand one place value to the left, for the zero (place holder
to show)
10. Continue multiplying the multiplier with the multiplicand,
bringing down the right number of beads
11. Read the answer on the bead frame and record.

Control of Error:

 The number of beads on the wire.

 The Montessori guide.
 Problem cards control of error.

58
Multiplication with the flat/Golden bead frame presentation 2

The same exact procedures while recording the partial products and adding on
the paper.

Follow up activity:

The child can work on large multiplication problems.

Subtraction Strip board with table sum

Lessons beforehand:

 Decimal system introduction.

 Addition with the golden beads.
 Addition board

Materials:

 Strip board
 Subtraction cards

Lesson:

1. Invite the child to the activity. Tell him what we are going to work
with.
2. Show him where we keep the material.
3. Ask him to prepare his working area.
4. Show him how to hold the board.
5. The guide then says: “Today we are going to work with subtraction
problems."
6. The teacher asks the child to place the blue set of rulers out on the
table.

59
 7. The teacher asks the child: “Can you read the first one?” The child
reads (7-1=).
8. The teacher says: “Seven that mean that we are going to work with
table 7 so we are going to hide all the numbers that come after 7."
The teacher says: "So we have 7 – 1 =.”
9. The teacher asks the child to get 1 from the blue rulers.
10. The child gets it and the teacher says: "Can you please put it here?”
11. The child places it.
12. The teacher points and says: ‘’so we had 7 and we took away 1."
13. "How many do we have now?"
14. The child counts and says 6.
15. The teacher says: “So 7 – 1 = 6."
16. The child records his answer.
17. The teacher says: “Would you like to check your answer?”

Control of error:
The Control chart

Subtraction with the golden mat

Lessons beforehand:

 subtraction with golden beads

 Stamp game
 Small bead frame
 Large bead frame
Materials needed:

 Golden mat
 Bead bar box
 Subtraction problem cards

60
Presentation:

1. Invite the child to the lesson.

2. Ask the child to choose a problem card.
3. Ask the child to build the Minuend on the golden mat, using the bead
bar box, starting with the units.
4. Ask the child to take away the Subtrahend from the minuend, starting
with the units. If there is not enough to take from the minuend, an
exchange is needed, explain to the child that ten from a specific value
equals to ten from the place value after.
5. Do the same with the other place values.

Control of Error:

 The color coded golden mat.

 Problem cards need to have the answer on the back.

Subtraction with the large Bead Frame

Lessons beforehand:

 subtraction with the Golden beads

 Stamp game
 Small bead frame
 Introduction to the Large bead frame
 Hierarchical material.
 Introduction to Large bead frame Notation paper.

Materials needed:

 Large bead frame.

 Large bead frame Notation paper, with subtraction problem on it, using
the Millions up to units.

61
Presentation:

14. Invite the child to the lesson.

15. Make the first minuend on the large bead frame, starting with the units.
16. Start taking away the subtrahend, starting with the units, and moving
one bead at a time.
17. In case of having nothing to take in the ten’s place, we need to put one
hundred bead back to the left side, and take ten ten beads.
18. Keep taking away the subtrahend from the rest of the minuend, till
million.
19. Record the answer on the bead frame notation.

Control of Error:

 The bead frame Notation paper.

Division with the stamp game

Lessons beforehand:

 Division with the golden beads

 Division with the stamp game

Materials needed:

 Stamp game.
 Problem cards.

Presentation:

1. Invite the child to the lesson.

2. Choose a division problem card. (64 divided by 8).

62
 3. Explain to the child, what if I need to put 64 pencils and I want to put
eight in each pencil case, how many pencil cases would I need?
4. Start putting one skittle at a time, and making groups of eight.
5. Subtract each eight tiles you put from the dividend 64.
6. Do the same until you subtracted enough eights, that the answer is zero.
7. The number of subtraction is the number of groups

Control of Error:

 The numbers of skittles that are put.

 The number of subtractions.
 The problem card should have the control of error at the back as well.
Division with the Racks and tubes

One digit divisor

Lessons beforehand:

 Division with the stamp game.

 Division with the golden beads.

Materials needed:

 Racks and tubes material

 Problem cards
 Green unit board

Presentation:

1. Invite the child to the lesson.

63
2. Choose a division problem.(e.g. 6428 divided by 4)
3. have the unit's board ready. (the green one)
4. Make the dividend in the cups, starting with the units, using the white
green cup, to the thousands, using the green gray cup.
5. Bring down the thousand cup to the board.
6. remind the child that we have to be fair in division and give each skittle the
same amount of beads, start distributing the beads among the skittles,
until all skittle get the same amount, and there 2 beads left still in the
cup.
7. Remind the child that we can't distribute the rest as we won't be fair.
8. Ask the child " How many did each skittle get?", "each one got two." "two
what?" "Two thousand"
9. Record how many each skittle got, in the thousands place.
10. Return the beads that are on the board to the tubes.
11. "How many do we have left?" "we have two beads." "exchange that with
twenty hundred and put in the hundred cup.
12.Place the thousand cup back on the racks, and bring down the hundred's
cup to the unit's board.
13.Start distributing the hundred beads among the skittles, see how many
each skittle gets, and record the answer in the hundred's place.
14. put the hundred beads back to the tubes.
15.If any beads are left in the hundred cup, exchange them for ten's.
16. Continue doing the same steps for the tens and units folloowing the
same pattern, (distribute, record, clear the board ).
17. After distributing the units, ask the child, "How many do we have left?"
"we have none in the unit's cup."
18. Read the quotient to the child.

Control of Error:

 Each tube has ten beads.

 the color coding of the beads and the board.

64
 Division with the Racks and tubes

Two and three digit divisor

Lessons beforehand:

 Division with the golden beads

 Division with the stamp game

Materials needed:

 Racks and tubes material

 Problem cards

Presentation:

1. Invite the child to the lesson.

2. Choose a division problem. (e.g. 7626 divided by 31)
3. Have the unit, and ten boards.
4. Make the dividend in the cups from right to left (starting with the units.)
5. Ask how many units in the divisor, place the skittles accordingly, do the
same steps to the tens.
6. Bring the thousand cup to the ten’s board, and the hundred cup to the unit
board.
7. Start distributing the 7 thousand bead over the three skittles on the ten
board.(make sure to give equal amounts to all skittles), while doing the
same to the hundred beads, by distributing it the 6 hundred’s beads to the
one. (the two boards have to match.)
8. There should be two rows of thousand beads, and two rows on hundred
beads.
9. Record the hundred beads that each skittle got, on the unit’s board.(remind
the student that we need to always record what’s on the units board.)
10. Return the beads on the board back to the tubes.

65
11. Ask “How many are left in the cup?” “ one thousand bead, four hundred
bead”
12. Record on the paper,
13. Exchange the one thousand’s bead with ten hundred’s beads; you should
have 14 hundred’s beads now.
14. Bring the hundred cup to the ten’s board, and the ten’s cup to the unit’s
board.
15. Start distributing the hundred to the ten’s skittles, and the ten’s to the
unit’s board, remind the child that the two boards have to match.
16. If you still have hundred beads but no tens you’ll need to exchange one
hundred with ten tens bead.
17. After the hundred and tens are distributed equally, start recording how
many tens’ bead each skittle got on the unit’s board, record on top of the
tens place on the sheet
18. Exchange the hundred’s left in the cup with tens, and clear the board.
19. Do the same steps, until there are no more beads to distribute equally,
record the quotient.
20. Check the unit’s bead cup at the end to see how many beads are left, if
any beads are left, “that would be the remainder,” explain to the child.
21. Put the beads back to the tubes, and the cups on the rack.

Control of Error:

 There are ten beads in each tube.

 The Montessori guide.

Introduction to Fractions
Lessons beforehand:

 Exposure to sensorial area and working with fractions using real objects
(Cutting an apple, or paper).

66
Materials needed:

Pitcher with water in it.

Measuring cup

glass

(all of the above material are on a tray, with a small sponge)

Presentation:

(Materials should be laid out beforehand)

1. Invite the student to the lesson.

2. Ask one of the students to pour the water into the measuring cup, till the
line that says one cup.
3. Check with the students that the water is filled to the requested line.
4. Ask another student to pour half of the amount into the glass, so the
other half should remain in the measuring cup.
5. Explain to the students that you are so thirsty, and drink all the water
in the glass.
6. Ask the students how much do we have left now?
7. Students may answer “half a cup,” ask, how do you know that, and let
the student answer, “Because we took half, “
8. Explain so I drank an equal amount to what’s in the measuring cup
now.
9. Explain that Fractions are the same, they are equal parts of a whole.

Control of Error

The measuring cup.

Follow up work:

Students can pour the water into different glasses of water, and try to make
equal amounts.

67
 Introduction to Fractions with Metal insets
Lessons beforehand:

 Introduction to fractions with water.

Materials needed:

 Fractions metal insets.

 Labels for each fraction family,
example: halves, thirds, etc.
 One whole of the beads (red
bead from the bead box)

Presentation:

1. Invite the student to the lesson.

2. Bring down the small red bead, and explain, “this is one whole bead,”
3. Bring down the one whole fraction inset, and explain, “this is one
whole as well.”
4. Explain, “if we to squish that bead so hard, it would be flat, and it
would still be one whole.
5. Bring down the halves, and put it next to the one whole inset frame.
6. Take only one of the halves, and explain “this is one half, “take down
the other half, and explain, “this is another half. “ put them back in
the frame, and place the half label below the frame.
7. Take down the thirds inset frame, and count the pieces at a time as
you place them below the frame, “one, two, three,” explain, “this is
thirds, “
8. Put them back on the frame, while saying the name, “one third, two
thirds, three thirds,”
9. Put the thirds label below the frame.

68
 10. Take out the fourth metal inset, and ask, “how many pieces do we
have here?
11. Start counting them as you place the pieces below its frame, put the
“fourth” label below the frame.
12. Do the same for the other metal insets.
(according to the level of your child, you may continue till the tenth
frame.)
Control of Error

The frame size.

The guide.

Follow up work:

Children can trace the metal inset of each family. And label it in their Math
journal.

69
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