- 1). Assign each child a job. One child should be in charge of the small number cards, another in charge of the large number cards, another in charge of distributing golden beads and, if you have enough in the group, one can hand out trays.
- 2). Tell the children what you will be doing. Explain that you are going to do multiplication, and let them know what the problem will be. It needs to be a problem that will have a result of less than 9,999, and that will require carrying numbers, or exchanging. For example, you might want to use 3 times 567, which will equal 1,701.
- 3). Build the number 567 using small number cards in each tray. Each child should have a tray with a 7 card on top of a 60 card on top of a 500 card.
- 4). Have each child take their tray to get the appropriate number of golden beads. They should each end up with five hundred squares, six ten bars and seven unit beads. Most montessori experts recommend against checking their numbers, however, since this is believed to make young students hesitant and shy about learning.
- 5
At this point, your problem will look something like this. Obviously, the numbers will differ depending on your multiplication problem.
Line up all of the golden beads on the green mat. The small number cards should be placed over the golden beads, one over the other. - 6). Compile the golden beads into one group. They should still be sorted by hierarchy. At this point, you will have fifteen hundred squares, 18 ten bars and 21 unit beads. As you do this, you should say, "Today we are doing multiplication. We have 567 three times. We will add them together."
- 7). Have the children count the beads and place the large number cards next to them. Start with the unit beads. Every time you reach ten unit beads, exchange those beads for an additional ten bar. This bar will be placed above the other ten bars. In this case, you will get two ten bars and have one unit bead left. That unit bead will get a large 1 card next to it. Next, count the ten bars. Each time you reach ten ten bars, exchange it for a hundred square. In this case, you will have no ten bars left, but you will get two more hundred squares. You will not need a tens large number card. Next, count the hundred squares. Each time you get ten hundred squares, exchange them for a thousand cube. In this case, you will get one thousand cube and have seven hundred squares left. Place a large 700 card next to the hundred squares and a large 1000 card next to the thousand cube.
- 8). Superimpose the large number cards. You should end up with 1701. As you do this, recap what happened by saying, "We multiplied 567 times 3. We got 1701."
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