SENSORIAL DECANOMIAL
The Montessori decanomial, in my opinion, is one of the greatest strokes of genius which Maria Montessori gifted to the educational world. The Sensorial Decanomial, also know as the Table of Pythagoras, is the one materials many of us may have seen, but not thoroughly understood. It is a hands-on representation of all the math fact tables from 1 to 10. The colors of the Decanomial material correspond with the Montessori colored bead sets. Red for 1's, green for 2's, pink for 3's, yellow for 4's, light blue for 5's, purple for 6's, white (or clear) for 7's, tan for 8's, dark blue for 9's, and gold (or orange) for 10's. I made my Sensorial Decanomial from mat board although I have seen it made with felt, or foam.
DIY DECANOMIAL
The measurements are best in centimeters - so the red square in the top left corner is 1 x 1cm (representing 1 times 1) and to the diagonal is the green square of two, (measuring 2cm x 2cm and representing 2 times 2). Then to the right, the horizontal green rectangle is 1 x 2cm (representing 1 times 2) and is the same size as the vertical green rectangle (but it now represents 2 times 1). Since each rectangle has a pair - cut a long strip of the material and then cut off the pieces accordingly, e.g. for the table of 5 cut a strip of material 5cm wide and then cut off a piece 5cm long and then two each of pieces 4cm long, 3cm long, 2cm long, 1cm long.
See a video of a child working with the Sensorial Decanomial HERE.
Sensorial Decanomial by Montessori Primary Guide
The Montessori decanomial, in my opinion, is one of the greatest strokes of genius which Maria Montessori gifted to the educational world. The Sensorial Decanomial, also know as the Table of Pythagoras, is the one materials many of us may have seen, but not thoroughly understood. It is a hands-on representation of all the math fact tables from 1 to 10. The colors of the Decanomial material correspond with the Montessori colored bead sets. Red for 1's, green for 2's, pink for 3's, yellow for 4's, light blue for 5's, purple for 6's, white (or clear) for 7's, tan for 8's, dark blue for 9's, and gold (or orange) for 10's. I made my Sensorial Decanomial from mat board although I have seen it made with felt, or foam.
DIY DECANOMIAL
The measurements are best in centimeters - so the red square in the top left corner is 1 x 1cm (representing 1 times 1) and to the diagonal is the green square of two, (measuring 2cm x 2cm and representing 2 times 2). Then to the right, the horizontal green rectangle is 1 x 2cm (representing 1 times 2) and is the same size as the vertical green rectangle (but it now represents 2 times 1). Since each rectangle has a pair - cut a long strip of the material and then cut off the pieces accordingly, e.g. for the table of 5 cut a strip of material 5cm wide and then cut off a piece 5cm long and then two each of pieces 4cm long, 3cm long, 2cm long, 1cm long.
See a video of a child working with the Sensorial Decanomial HERE.
Sensorial Decanomial by Montessori Primary Guide
This decanomial material is the graphic representation of
the Multiplication tables more commonly seen as this chart:
the Multiplication tables more commonly seen as this chart:
But did you know that the flat Sensorial Decanomial
can be transformed into this?
can be transformed into this?
By exchanging all the colored Sensorial Decanomial tiles for bead bars,
and then exchanging the bead bars for bead squares,
you will have enough squares of each color to create cubes,
which will transform into the pink tower in bead form.
I usually give this presentation the first week of school to my 4th years. It bonds them together as a class as they layout the decanomial three times (horizontal, vertical and diagonal). On the last layout we work together to convert to squares. The next day we convert the squares to cubes and then start to stack the cubes; starting with ten as the base and building up to one. At about 7 the students start murmuring to each other that it looks familiar. Around 3 they realize that is looks like the pink tower. After it is stacked we call it the Jewel Tower. And by the end of the next week all the kids can tell you how many beads are in it! It is amazing.
ReplyDeleteThank you for putting it all into perspective for us with your observations!
DeleteAwesome post, Suzanne! I LOVE this material ... it truly shows the genius of Montessori. Thanks for linking up with Montessori Monday and sharing those wonderful connections. I featured your post at the Living Montessori Now Facebook page: www.facebook.com/LivingMontessoriNow
ReplyDeleteThank you once again for sharing my post with your readers! You provide such an amazing resource for the Montessori online community at Living Montessori Now.
ReplyDelete