Loading preview...

Features

The short chains 2 to 10 drawn bar by bar, in the bead stair colours
Arrow tickets at the end of every bar, the missing ones left blank to write
Lettered beads to name by counting on from the ticket before them
Long chains wrapped into neat rows of bars, joined like the real chain
Each chain folded into its bead square: the last ticket is n × n
A worked example on the first and last pages
Every page in color and in black and white
Answer keys included

Skills Covered

Skip count by 2s, 3s, 4s and 5s along a bead chain
Skip count by 6s, 7s, 8s, 9s and 10s
Write the multiples of a number in order, as arrow tickets

Count on from a multiple to name any bead of a chain
See that the chain of n is n bars of n beads
Find square numbers: the last ticket of the chain of n is n × n

How to Use This Pack

Five pages, one step of the bead chain work at a time. Page 1 is the chains of 2, 3 and 4, with the chain of 2 worked as an example: on every chain the first and last tickets are printed, and students write the missing tickets at the ends of the bars. A letter over a bead asks for that bead's number: count on from the ticket just before it. Pages 2, 3 and 4 do the same with the chains of 5 and 6, 7 and 8, and 9 and 10; the longer chains wrap into rows of bars, and a dashed wire shows where each row goes on. Page 5 folds the chains into their squares: an example shows the chain of 3 becoming the square of 3, then students write the last ticket under the squares of 2 and 4 to 10 and the multiplication that names it.

In the Classroom

Use the pages after the child has worked with the real short chains: lay a chain out straight on the rug, count the beads aloud, and place an arrow ticket at the end of each bar. Then fold the chain bar by bar and lay the bead square on top to see that it matches. The worksheet is the record of that work. Children who are ready can cover the tickets and skip count from memory, then uncover them to check.

At Home

Thread beads or pasta onto pipe cleaners in groups of the same size and join them into a chain. Count along it together, saying only the last number of each group: 4, 8, 12, 16. Then fold the chain into rows to make a square and count the rows.

Tips for Success

Each chain is made of bars that all have the same number of beads, so every ticket is that many more than the one before
To name a lettered bead, start at the ticket before it and count on bead by bead
The chain of n has n bars, so it has n tickets, and the last one is n × n
Folding the chain into rows of bars makes a square: n rows of n beads
In black and white, tell the chains apart by counting the beads in one bar

Common Core Standards Alignment

This pack supports the following Common Core State Standards for Mathematics:

2.NBT.A.2 Count up to 1,000, and count by fives, tens and hundreds.
3.OA.C.7 Multiply and divide to 100 fluently with strategies, and by year's end instantly recall every product of two single-digit numbers.
3.OA.D.9 Spot patterns in addition tables, times tables and other arithmetic, and explain them with properties, like why multiples of 5 end in 0 or 5.

Montessori Bead Chains: Skip Counting

2nd – 3rd Grade

The short bead chains of the Montessori bead cabinet, from the chain of 2 to the chain of 10, with their arrow tickets and bead squares. Students count along each chain, write the missing tickets, count on to name lettered beads, then fold each chain into its square and write the square number.

Download PDF

What’s Included

5 worksheets in color and in black and white, with answer keys (15 pages)
The chains of 2, 3 and 4, then 5 and 6, 7 and 8, and 9 and 10, with arrow tickets to write
Lettered beads to name by counting on
The chains folded into their bead squares, with the square numbers to write

Can’t find what you need?

Tell us what to make next, or build your own with a worksheet maker.

Suggest a worksheet

Free to print and share

This worksheet is free to download, print, copy, and hand out in your classroom or at home. You do not need to create an account, and there are no watermarks on the PDF.