Teacher's tips

Level of Education: Elementary School

Age: 06 to 09 years old

Subjects: Mathematics

In this game, students will work with the golden beads material, which helps the teaching-learning process of the decimal numeration system and the methods to calculate the basic operations. Even though the golden beads material is destined to work with numbers, you can also use it to develop creativity, motor skills, and logical thinking. [FIM-DICA]

Learner outcomes

To develop logical thinking;

To understand the decimal numeration system;

To explore the golden beads material;

To improve numerical thinking;

To relate numbers and quantity;

To understand how the grouping of numbers works;

To solve additions and subtractions using the golden beads material;

To learn how to count by grouping the beads;

To see the relations between the numbers and the beads;

To perfect the reading and writing of numbers;

To reinforce the content discussed during classes.

Teachers' goals

To help the understanding of the concepts of units, tens, hundreds, and thousands;

To explore students' different numerical representations;

To help students develop independence, self-confidence, focus, and motor skills;

To work with the grouping and regrouping principles of the decimal numeration system;

To work with the positional value of numbers;

To offer the game as a didactic resource to explore the content discussed in the classroom;

To give opportunities for students to like mathematics using playful activities;

To stimulate the students to share their knowledge, socialize, and interact with each other.

Suggestions of approaches for the teacher

(Approach 1) Form small groups. The students should help themselves to solve each problem. It is important to highlight what each student knows and what they need to learn so that the sharing is effective.

Ask students to write down the numbers they get. They will play many times so that they will have many different numbers. After that, they should represent the numbers on the golden beads material. You can also ask them to add or subtract those numbers with the golden beads material.

(Approach 2) Explore the golden beads material during the class. This material represents a grouping system, so it is essential to let students deal with it. The teacher can ask different questions so that students share their doubts and ideas.

You can ask some of the following questions:

• How many beads do you need to form a bar?

• How many bars do you need to form a square?

• How many beads do you need to form a square?

• How many squares do you need to form a cube?

(Approach 3) An engaging way to use the material is the 'Change Game':

Students can work in pairs or groups. They should have their golden beads material.

*Each group decides who starts to play (or the teacher does.)

*The students can roll dice to get the number of beads (the teacher cal also say a random number)

*When they have ten beads, they should exchange them for a bar.

*Then, when they get ten bars, they exchange them for a square, and so on.

• The teacher should define a time for the students to finish the game.

(Approach 4) Students can build golden beads material using different materials, such as chopsticks.

(Approach 5) Promote an activity in which the students need to solve maths problems using the golden beads material.

(Approach 6) Work with numbers dictations with the golden beads material.

(Approach 7) Ask students to write numbers and then represent them on the golden beads material.

(Approach 8) Make tables with the beads material.

(Approach 9) Use the concepts of predecessor and successor with the golden beads material.

More about the content

Maria Montessori (1870 - 1952) idealized the golden beads material to teach arithmetics. Even though she had this purpose, this material is used to teach fractions, calculate areas and volumes, and work with decimal numbers and square roots. The golden beads material allows students to experience a concrete interaction with objects and helps them understand abstract concepts later. Students must use the golden beads material in the classroom to explore it, use it, play with it, and understand it so that they will learn its characteristics, properties, and associative possibilities. Talk with students about the relationship between numbers and quantities, and quantities grouping.