Montessori Activity: The Bead Cabinet - Sensorial Experiences with the Chain (Stage I)

 

AGE: 4.5-6 (the child should have worked with the initial bead presentation and the short bead stair and be very familiar with the sensorial materials)

OBJECTIVE(S): To show the child the progression of different relationships between units, squares and cubes.

MATERIALS:

Bead Cabinet consists of:

1.     1 golden unit bead, 1 ten-bar, 1 hundred-square, 1 thousand-cube

2.     1 set of short bead bars: 1 red, 2 green, 3 pink, 4 yellow, 5 light blue, 6 violet, 7 white, 8 brown and 9 dark blue.

3.     1 set of colored bead squares with their appropriate chains

4.     1 set of colored bead cubes with their appropriate cube chains

5.     Several mats

 

STAGE I:

1.     Bring the bead presentation tray containing 1-unit, a 10-bar, a 100-square and a 1000-cube to the mat. The 100 and 1000 chains will be added in Stage II.

2.     From the top of the mat, right to left, place the following beads:
 

1000-cube, 100-square, 10-bar, 1-unit

3.     Point to the 1 unit bead and say "1."

4.     Point to the 10-bar, say "10" and count it out "1, 2, 3, 4, 5... etc. to 10."

5.     Point to the 100-square, say "100" and count it out "10, 20, 30, 40, 50... etc. to 100."

6.     Point to the 1000-cube, say "1000" and count it out "100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600... etc. to 1000."

7.     Place the unit bead by each bead over the 10-bar counting it out again.
 
8.   Then place the 10-bar superimposed over each 10-bar of the 100-square and counts it out.
 
9.    Lastly place the 100-square superimposed over each 100-square in the 1000-cube, counting it out as before.

10.   Ask: "How many units are there in a 10-bar?", "How many 10-bars in a hundred-square?", "How many 100-squares in a 1000-cube?"
 

REFERENCES:
- https://archive.org/details/advancedmontess00livigoog
- Shu-Chen Jenny Yen’s On-line Montessori Albums http://faculty.fullerton.edu/syen/mts/math/_link.htm