Static Multiplication with the Golden Beads

Montessori Multiplication with the Golden Beads

A bank of Golden Beads

A set of large number cards

Three sets of small number cards

A felt lined tray for each child

2 tables – one for the beads (bank)

one for the cards

One floor mat

To give the child concrete experience of multiplication and to teach the child the term.

To give the child an understanding that multiplication is a form of repeated addition.

NA

Presentation 1 

1. Begin the work cycle. This is a group exercise.
2. One child is put in charge of the bank.
3. Give each child in the group a felt – lined tray.
4. The Montessori Directress makes up a number, such as 233 with the small number cards and places it on the bottom right hand corner of each child’s tray. Note that each child gets the same number.
5. The children go to the bank, one at a time, and collect the corresponding amount of beads.
6. The Montessori Directress then shows each child how to lay out his beads on the top left hand side of the mat and the cards to the right of that.
7. The trays are set aside and the children gather around the mat.
8. The Montessori Directress then tells the children that,“We are going to add the numbers on the mat, starting with the units.”
9. One child brings down the units from the top of the table, places them all together, and counts them.[/DAP]
10. The child collects and places the corresponding large number cards below the beads.
11. The second child brings down the tens, counts them and places the corresponding number cards below them.
12. The hundreds are brought down and counted and labelled as before.
13. When all the beads are counted and all the corresponding quantities in number cards have been placed below them, the cards are then overlapped.
14. The large overlapped cards are then placed below the small number cards, which have remained on the right hand side of the mat.
15. The Montessori Directress then explains to the children that this time we added up three numbers that were exactly the same quantity. When we add three numbers that are the same, then we are multiplying the number three times. This is called multiplication.
16. Re-state the operation saying, “each child collected 233 beads and we added all three numbers (or we can say we multiplied it three times) and now we have a larger number, 699.
17. End the work cycle.