Cuisenaire rods
Encyclopedia
Cuisenaire rods give students a hands-on elementary school
way to learn elementary math concepts, such as the four basic arithmetic operations and working with fractions.
One of the first educators to use rods to represent the numbers 1 to 10 was Maria Montesorri. In the earl 1950s, Caleb Gattegno
popularized a standard set of colored number rods created by Georgies Cuisenaire, a Belgian who called the rods réglettes.
primary school teacher
, who published a book on their use in 1952 called Les nombres en couleurs. The use of rods for both mathematics and language teaching was developed and popularised by in many countries around the world.
Though primarily used for mathematics, they have also become popular in language-teaching classrooms, particularly The Silent Way. They can be used to teach items such as prepositions of place, sentence and word stress.
used coloured rods in the classroom to teach concepts of both mathematics and length. This is possibly the first instance of coloured rods being used in the classroom for this purpose.
Doctor Catherine Stern also devised a set of coloured rods produced by staining wood with aesthetically pleasing colours.
In 1961 Seton Pollock produced the Colour Factor system, consisting of rods from lengths 1 to 12 cm. The odd-numbered lengths have cold colours, and the even-numbered lengths have warm colours.
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
way to learn elementary math concepts, such as the four basic arithmetic operations and working with fractions.
One of the first educators to use rods to represent the numbers 1 to 10 was Maria Montesorri. In the earl 1950s, Caleb Gattegno
Caleb Gattegno
Caleb Gattegno Alexandria, Egypt is best known for his innovative approaches to teaching and learning mathematics , foreign languages and reading...
popularized a standard set of colored number rods created by Georgies Cuisenaire, a Belgian who called the rods réglettes.
Overview
The rods (in the original French) are named after their inventor, Georges Cuisenaire (1891-1976), a BelgianBelgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
primary school teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
, who published a book on their use in 1952 called Les nombres en couleurs. The use of rods for both mathematics and language teaching was developed and popularised by in many countries around the world.
Though primarily used for mathematics, they have also become popular in language-teaching classrooms, particularly The Silent Way. They can be used to teach items such as prepositions of place, sentence and word stress.
| Colour | Length (in centimeters) |
|---|---|
| White | 1 |
| Red | 2 |
| Light green | 3 |
| Lavender | 4 |
| Yellow | 5 |
| Dark green | 6 |
| Black | 7 |
| Brown | 8 |
| Blue | 9 |
| Orange | 10 |
Other coloured rods
In her first school, and in schools since then, Maria MontessoriMaria Montessori
Maria Montessori was an Italian physician and educator, a noted humanitarian and devout Catholic best known for the philosophy of education which bears her name...
used coloured rods in the classroom to teach concepts of both mathematics and length. This is possibly the first instance of coloured rods being used in the classroom for this purpose.
Doctor Catherine Stern also devised a set of coloured rods produced by staining wood with aesthetically pleasing colours.
In 1961 Seton Pollock produced the Colour Factor system, consisting of rods from lengths 1 to 12 cm. The odd-numbered lengths have cold colours, and the even-numbered lengths have warm colours.
External links
- Cuisenaire Rods in the language classroom – article by John Mullen
- Online cuisenaire rods (NumBlox Freeplay)