How to Teach Long and Short Comparisons Using the Montessori Long Rods

The Montessori long rods are a lesson composed of ten rods that are all the same diameter but vary in length by a decimeter, each from one decimeter to a meter. These rods are the most advanced Montessori tools designed for use when teaching preschoolers about dimension. They should be introduced when a child appears reasonably comfortable with all stages of the cylinder blocks, pink tower and broad stair lessons.

Things You'll Need

• Green floor mat

Instructions

1. Lay the rods randomly on the floor on the green mat. You can let the child help get the rods out and lay them out in a random order so that he will know where the rods go when the lesson is over. Make sure that the rods are all parallel, but not in any particular order.

2. Feel all the rods. You should be sitting side by side with the child so that the two of you are looking at the lesson from the same perspective. Use the first two fingers of your dominant hand--the hand you write with in most cases--to feel the length of the rod.

3. Begin lining up the rods, with the longest one at the top of the mat. Once you have felt all the rods together, feel the longest rod from end to end and then place it at the top of the mat. Do the same with the next longest rod and place it directly under the first. Make sure you show care and deliberation as you demonstrate so that the child will understand that you are selecting carefully.

4. Allow the child to join in whenever she likes. Most children will figure out the lesson before you finish and begin selecting and lining up the rods. If the student does so, then you can allow them to complete the exercise before you mix up the rods again. If she does not, then complete the exercise yourself. Then mix up the rods and leave the child to work on her own unless she requests a repeat of the demonstration.

5. Encourage the child to work with the long rods on subsequent days. The lesson should be kept in an easily accessible location, and the child should be allowed to self-correct unless he is clearly lost or struggling.

Tips & Warnings

• Developmentally delayed children can be given every other rod for a total of five rods. Once they can line up the five, then allow them to work with the full ten.

• Once a child is working comfortably with all ten rods, you can introduce vocabulary words such as "long, longer and longest" and "short, shorter and shortest." Ask the child to identify the rods that match the words out of a set of three or more. Eventually you can have a child working with six or all ten rods while using this vocabulary.