How to Teach Squaring Numbers With the Montessori Colored Bead Bars

Bead bar tower

The Montessori colored bead bars are colored beads strung on stiff lengths of wire. They are numbered one through nine, and each number has a different color. Once a color scheme is selected for a classroom, you must stick to that scheme in order for the lessons to be effective. Colored bead bars are designed for use with many different counting lessons. They can be used for teaching students to square numbers.

Things You'll Need

• Green floor mat

Instructions

1. Separate the bead bars by color and number. You will need to have at least one bead bar with one bead, at least two with two beads, at least three with three beads, and so on. You can do this with the student, but make sure ahead of time that you have enough bead bars to work with.

2. Show the student how the beads can be arranged in rows to make squares. Point out that a square has sides that are all the same length, so the bead bars can be laid out horizontally to make square shapes. For example, a "three square" will have three beads across the bottom and be three bead bars high. You may wish to leave out a "one square" at first, but you can make this decision independently for each child.

3. Have the students arrange all the bead bars in squares so that they make a tower shape on the green mat. The "one square" should be at the top with the "two square" underneath, and so on. As the student forms each square, she should count the beads in the square. This will help her see, for example, that a "three square" is nine beads.

4. Allow the student to build squares and count them on his own. Once the student appears comfortable with the squaring exercise, you can let him work and count on his own. Some Montessori curricula allow the instructor to introduce the language "three squared is nine" to be used upon the completion of counting out a square. Others do not, so you will need to check with your school's teaching standards before deciding whether or not to implement this part of the lesson.

5. Encourage the student to work with the colored beads on her own. The lesson should be kept in a convenient location where the student can get it out and put it away easily.

Tips & Warnings

• You can add number cards to this lesson if you wish by having the child place the number of beads next to each square.