CUISENAIRE RODS IN MY CLASSROOM

The report presents a teaching methodology for primary school how to use Cuisenaire Rods to teach English. First Primary School „St. Cyril and St. Methodius” successfully works under the European program „Erasmus”. In 2017, I participated in the training course at the Executive Training Institute in Malta by the Erasmus program on the topic „Language learning, entertainment and games – a methodology for primary school.” This report introduces some ideas and techniques of teaching English with Cuisenaire Rods, after my education. They are small wooden cubes of different lengths and colors. They are used as a resource in the classroom to visually present different areas of the language. Cuisenaire Rods are an important tool for promoting handson learning. Provokes in children energy, vitality during the lesson. Creates a feeling of joy. Most importantly, it makes them feel confident in their knowledge and ability to use the language. This practical teaching method also provoke the teacher’s imagination to put children close to reality situations, turning the lesson into a game.

Georges Cuisenaire’s numbers in colour. A teaching aid that survived the 1950s

In 1952, a Belgian primary school teacher, Georges Cuisenaire, published Les nombres en couleurs, a booklet in which the author describes his invention and explains a corresponding method for teaching elementary arithmetic. Cuisenaire materialized the numbers from one to ten by means of rods of corresponding lengths and in different colours. The rods provided a concrete tool for exploring and gaining insight in basic concepts and skills, such as the four basic operations, finding divisors and multiples, working with fractions, the decimal system, arithmetic sequences, and area and volume calculation. From the mid-1950s, with the support of Caleb Gattegno, the Cuisenaire rods broke through worldwide. In subsequent years, empirical research into the effectiveness of the Cuisenaire’s method was initiated and in several countries Cuisenaire Associations were founded. In the late 1960s and 1970s, a number of attempts were made to use the material for the teaching of typical modern mathematics contents to (very) young children, but the use of the rods in this context was sometimes far-fetched and did not break through. Keywords: CIEAEM, Cuisenaire rods, numbers in colour, teaching aid, teaching material, Georges Cuisenaire, Caleb Gattegno

How does a fraction get its name?

Philosophical and cultural perspectives shape how a fraction is named and defined. In turn, these perspectives have consequences for learners' conceptualization of fractions. We examine historical foundations of two perspectives of what are fractions—partitioning and measuring—and how these views influence fraction knowledge. For the dominant perspective, partitioning, we indicate how its approach to what is a fraction that discretizes objects and its well-meaning visual correlates cause learners a host of perceptual difficulties. Based on the human cultural and social practice of measuring continuous quantities, we then offer an alternative understanding of what is a fraction and illustrate the promise of this view for fraction knowledge. We introduce pedagogical tools, Cuisenaire rods, and illustrate how they can be used to implement a measuring perspective to comprehending properties and a definition of fractions. We end by sketching how to initiate a measuring perspective in a mathematics classroom.Keywors: Fractions; Gattegno; Measuring; Partitioning; Unit fractions. Como uma fração recebe seu nome?Resumo: Perspectivas filosóficas e culturais moldam como uma fração é nomeada e definida. Por sua vez, essas perspectivas têm consequências para a conceitualização de frações dos estudantes. Examinamos os fundamentos históricos de duas perspectivas do que são frações—particionamento e medição—e como essas visões influenciam o conhecimento das frações. Para a perspectiva dominante, partição, indicamos como sua abordagem ao que é uma fração que discretiza objetos e seu correlato visual bem-intencionado causa aos alunos uma série de dificuldades perceptivas. Com base na prática cultural e social humana de medir quantidades contínuas, oferecemos um entendimento alternativo do que é uma fração e ilustramos a promessa dessa visão para o conhecimento da fração. Introduzimos ferramentas pedagógicas, varas Cuisenaire e ilustramos como elas podem ser usadas para implementar uma perspectiva de medição para compreender propriedades e uma definição de frações. Terminamos esboçando como iniciar uma perspectiva de medição em uma sala de aula de matemática.Palavras-chave: Frações; Gattegno; Medição; Partição; Frações unitárias.

Mapping a Way to Decimal Understanding

Using Cuisenaire Rods, metric measurement, and mapping, students worked collaboratively to calculate, keep records, build, and problem solve with use of decimal fractions as a key element.