A few weeks ago, while rummaging through some drawers on the hunt for an adaptor for a work trip, I came across something I long since forgotten I had - that classic TEFL tool, Cuisenaire Rods. This got me thinking about what uses this tool actually has and, since then, have been periodically playing around with my rediscovered teaching aid.
What are Cuisenaire Rods?
Cuisenaire Rods are a set of coloured rods created by Belgian primary school teacher Georges Cuisenaire from which they derive their name. The typical range includes the following rods:
These were originally used in the teaching of mathematics and entered language teaching through the work of “Silent Way” creator Caleb Gattegno. A typical set of Cuisenaire Rods includes a selection of rods of differing colours and lengths such as:
Rods only vary by colour and length and not width. Wood is the typical material for a set.
The Uses of Cuisenaire Rods in Language Teaching
There are many potential uses to Cuisenaire Rods. These can link to grammar, syntax and more.
Numbers and Counting
Cuisenaire Rods can be used to teach numbers and counting using the small 1cm cubes one on top of another or the increasing sizes.
Tokens and Props in Roleplays
With some imagination, Cuisenaire Rods can represent items or act as tokens in roleplays such as negotiations in which they could act as items for sale, commodities and more.
Clockface and Telling the Time
Cuisenaire Rods can be arranged as a clock face with other rods for the hands of the clock:
Places and Maps
Cuisenaire Rods can be laid out on a table to form a map with different colours and sizes representing different features of a map such as roads, rivers, bridges, buildings and so on:
This can also a way of teaching prepositions of place (“the school is next to the hotel” and so on).
Direction and Movement
Through moving a Cuisenaire Rod on a map, we can also teach items such as directions:
This is also an opportunity to teach a range of tenses such as the present continuous (“the car is turning left” and so on).
Word Order, Syntax and Parts of Speech
Using a different rod to represent a different word in a sentence, we can teach parts of speech (what is the noun, verb and so on) and word order (such as subject, verb, object)
Cuisenaire Rods can also be used as a form of error correction in the case that a student omits a word in sentence.
Prefixes and Suffixes and Forms of Tenses
If we wish to teach prefixes and suffixes, we can use Cuisenaire Rods to represent these different elements.
In this example, we see 1 cm represent one letter in the word “disorganised”:
“dis” “organise” “d”
Word Stress, Sentence Stress and Shifting the Word Stress
Look at this sentence and think how stressing different words could change the meaning:
“I know what you mean about Ben”
Shifting word stress - and therefore changes in meaning - in this sentence can be depicted on a board using stress bubbles or similar; however, Cuisenaire Rods could be used with, for example, small rods representing unstressed words and a different, longer rod to represent the stressed word.
Stressing the pronoun “I” would, if represented using Cuisenaire Rods look like this:
Stressing the verb “know” would look like this:
Stressing “you” would look like this:
Stressing the name “Ben” would look like this:
The same can be done with syllables in individual words.
Colours
Each Cuisenaire Rod is a different colour and although the selection is limited, there is some possibility to teach or revise colours using the rods.
Adjectives and Order of Adjectives
When more than one adjective is used to describe features such as size, colour, material and so on, these must be placed in the right order:
1. Determiner (“the”, “one”, “these”, “some”, “a” and so on)
2. Observation (“special”, “strong”, “better” and so on)
3. Size (“large”, “small”, “thick” and so on)
4. Shape (“cylindrical”, “spiral”, “square” and so on)
5. Age (“old”, “new”, “modern” and so on)
6. Colour (“red”, “silver”, “black” and so on)
7. Origin (“Chinese”, “British”, “European” and so on)
8. Material (“metal”, “plastic”, “stone” and so on)
9. Type / purpose (“testing”, “paving”, “painting” and so on)
10. Noun (“cable”, “machine”, “engine” and so on)
Using Cuisenaire Rods, we can place these adjectives in the right order (or correct wrong order) with each rod representing a different adjective.
Comparatives and Superlatives
With rods being of different lengths, there is the potential to teach comparatives and superlatives:
· “The red rod is shorter than the yellow rod.”
· “The orange rod is the longest.”
CLIL and Maths Teaching
Going back to the original envisaged use of Cuisenaire Rods and their most common use in educational contexts, we can use Cuisenaire Rods for the teaching of anything maths-related; this might include:
· Fractions: using Cuisenaire Rods as fractions of a greater amount
· Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division: using the Cuisenaire Rods as numbers
· Dimensions: arranging the rods to teach length, height and so on
· Shapes: arranging the rods into different shapes to elicit or teach such vocabulary
This could be part of a CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) class in which both language and subject content, in this case maths, are taught.
Telling Stories (Places, People)
We have mentioned how Cuisenaire Rods can be used for representing places on a map. If we wish to tell a story as part of a lesson, different Cuisenaire Rods can also represent different people and characters as well as places:
Military English
In a similar way to how Cuisenaire Rods can be used for maps and telling stories, Cuisenaire Rods can be used in Military English.
This might include a battle or theatre of operations in a historical context or plan.
Graphs and Charts
Cuisenaire Rods can be a way to display graphs and charts to, for example, present features of these graphs or charts and movement or trends in the data:
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Cuisenaire Rods
The use of Cuisenaire Rods does have advantages and disadvantages.
Some advantages are:
• Help to focus on the form
• Visually appealing with bright colours.
• Kinaesthetic (tactile)
• Visual
• Useful for explain a situation when words are lacking
• Lightweight and easy to transport
• No major preparation needed
• Can be used anywhere at any time without any special equipment
• May be considered novel or different in a world of high-tech teaching
• Encourages teacher creativity
• Uses limited only by imagination
• Dynamic and entertaining
• Great for young learners but useful in any situation
• Simplicity is an advantage, non-distracting
• Can be used to bring people around in an interaction group
Some disadvantages are:
• Many teachers have no idea how to use them and being given a set if not enough to begin using them
• Teachers often intimidated by the rods and the concept may seem more complex than it is
• May not be suitable for certain age groups or personalities
• Perception of “playing” that instead of learning grammar they are playing with coloured blocks
• May seem old-fashioned and even childish to some (including teenagers)
• Must not over-use as novelty can wear off!
• Requires ability to think in an abstract way for teachers and students
• Requires creativity
• May be said to appeal to only certain learning styles or preferences
• Only works with small groups that can "gather round" unless a set is distributed to smaller groups for tasks
Cuisenaire rods are a great addition to any teacher's repertoire of tools and have fantastic potential for different tasks types. How have you used the rods in your training? What ideas do you have? Please let us know.
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