The Montessori Elementary Material / The Advanced Montessori Method

by Maria Montessori

The exercises on the number and gender of nouns are done without the help of the boxes. The child already knows that those words are articles and nouns, so we give him now small groups of forty cards (nouns and articles) held together by an elastic band. In each one, the group (tied separately) of the ten singular nouns serves as the guide for the exercise. These nouns are arranged in a column on the table, one beneath the other, and the other cards, which are shuffled, must be placed around this first group in the right order. There are two more cards of different colors on which the words singular and plural respectively are written; and these are placed at the top of the respective columns. We have prepared four series of ten nouns in alphabetical order. In this way four children may do the exercise at the same time and by exchanging material they come in contact with a very considerable number of words.

This is the way the cards should finally be arranged in the four different exercises:

Singolare	Plurale	Singular	Plural
il bambino	i bambini	the child	the children, etc.
il berretto	i berretti	the cap
la bocca	le bocche	the mouth
il calamaio	i calamai	the inkstand
la calza	le calze	the stocking
la casa	le case	the house
il cappello	i cappelli	the hat
Singolare	Plurale	Singular	Plural
la maestra	le maestre	the teacher	the teachers, etc.
la mano	le mani	the hand
la matita	le matite	the pencil
il naso	i nasi	the nose
il nastro	i nastri	the ribbon
l'occhio	gli occhi	the eye
l'orologio	gli orologi	the clock (watch)
il panchetto	i panchetti	the bench
Singolare	Plurale	Singular	Plural
il dente	i denti	the tooth	the teeth, etc.
l'elastico	gli elastici	the elastic
il fagiolo	i fagioli	the bean
la fava	le fave	the bean
la gamba	le gambe	the leg
il gesso	i gessi	the plaster
la giacca	le giacche	the coat
il grembiale	i grembiali	the apron
Singolare	Plurale	Singular	Plural
il piede	i piedi	the foot	the feet, etc.
il quaderno	i quaderni	the copy book
la rapa	i rape	the turnip
la scarpa	le scarpe	the shoe
la tasca	le tasche	the pocket
il tavolino	i tavolini	the table
la testa	le teste	the head
l'unghia	le unghie	the nail (finger)

Like material has been prepared for the masculine and feminine forms: The masculine group is kept by itself, while the feminines are shuffled.

Maschile	Femminile	Masculine	Feminine
il conte	la contessa	the count	the countess, etc.
l'amico	l'amica	the friend
l'asino	l'asina	the donkey
il babbo	la mamma	the father
il benefattore	la benefattrice	the benefactor
il bottegaio	la bottegaia	the shop-keeper
il cugino	la cugina	the cousin
il cuoco	la cuoca	the cook
il cacciatore	la cacciatrice	the hunter
il cavallo	la cavalla	the horse
Maschile	Femminile	Masculine	Feminine
il duca	la duchessa	the duke	the duchess, etc.
il canarino	la canarina	the canary
il dottore	la dottoressa	the doctor
il dattilografo	la dattilografa	the stenographer
l'elefante	l'elefantessa	the elephant
il figlio	la figlia	the son
il fratello	la sorella	the brother
il gallo	la gallina	the cock
il gatto	la gatta	the cat
Maschile	Femminile	Masculine	Feminine
il leone	la leonessa	the lion	the lioness, etc.
l'ispettore	l'ispettrice	the inspector
il lupo	la lupa	the wolf
il lettore	la lettrice	the reader
il maestro	la maestra	the schoolmaster
il marchese	la marchesa	the marquis
il mulo	la mula	the mule
il nonno	la nonna	the grandfather
il nemico	la nemica	the enemy
l'oste	l'ostessa	the host	the hostess, etc.
l'orologiaio	l'orologiaia	the watch-maker
il poeta	la poetessa	the poet
il pellicciaio	la pellicciaia	the furrier
il padre	la madre	the father
il re	la regina	the king
il ranocchio	la ranocchia	the frog
lo sposo	la sposa	the husband
il servo	la serva	the man-servant
il somaro	la somara	the ass

Finally there are three series of nouns in four forms: Singular and Plural, Masculine and Feminine. Each group has eighty cards counting both nouns and articles, and the ten singular masculines in the guiding group are kept together, apart from the others. The title cards (twelve in number) are singular and plural and for each of them is a card marked masculine and a card marked feminine. The following is the order of the material when properly arranged by the child:

Singolare		Singular
Maschile	Femminile	Masculine	Feminine
l'amico	l'amica	the friend	the friend, etc.
il bambino	la bambina	the child
il burattinaio	la burattinaia	the puppet-player
il contadino	la contadina	the peasant
il cavallo	la cavalla	the horse
il compagno	la compagna	the companion
il disegnatore	la disegnatrice	the designer
il dattilografo	la dattilografa	the stenographer
l'ebreo	l'ebrea	the Jew
il fanciullo	la fanciulla	the boy
Plurale		Plural
Maschile	Femminile	Masculine	Feminine
gli amici	le amiche	the friends	the friends, etc.
i bambini	le bambine	the children
i burattinai	le burattinaie	the puppet-players
i contadini	le contadine	the peasants
i cavalli	le cavalle	the horses
i compagni	le compagne	the companions
i disegnatori	le disegnatrici	the designers
i dattilografi	le dattilografe	the stenographers
gli ebrei	l'ebree	the Jews
i fanciulli	le fanciulle	the boys
Singolare		Singular
Maschile	Femminile	Masculine	Feminine
il gatto	la gatta	the cat	the cat, etc.
il giardiniere	la giardiniera	the gardener
il giovinetto	la giovinetta	the youth
l'infermiere	l'infermiera	the nurse
l'italiano	l'italiana	the Italian
il lavoratore	la lavoratrice	the worker
il medico	la medichessa	the physician
il materassaio	la materassaia	the mattress-maker
l'operaio	l'operaia	the workman
il pittore	la pittrice	the painter
Plurale		Plural
Maschile	Femminile	Masculine	Feminine
i gatti	le gatte	the cats	the cats, etc.
i giardinieri	le giardiniere	the gardeners
i giovinetti	le giovinette	the youths
gl'infermieri	le infermiere	the nurses
gl'italiani	le italiane	the Italians
i lavoratori	le lavoratrici	the workers
i medici	le medichesse	the physicians
i materassai	le materassaie	the mattress-makers
gli operai	le operaie	the workmen
i pittori	le pittrici	the painters
Singolare		Singular
Maschile	Femminile	Masculine	Feminine
il ragazzo	la ragazza	the boy	the girl, etc.
il romano	la romana	the Roman
lo scolare	la scolara	the scholar
il sarto	la sarta	the tailor
il santo	la santa	the saint
il tagliatore	la tagliatrice	the cutter
l'uomo	la donna	the man
il vecchio	la vecchia	the old man
il visitatore	la visitatrice	the visitor
lo zio	la zia	the uncle
Plurale		Plural
Maschile	Femminile	Masculine	Feminine
i ragazzi	le ragazze	the boys	the girls, etc.
i romani	le romane	the Romans
gli scolari	le scolare	the scholars
i sarti	le sarte	the tailors
i santi	le sante	the saints
i tagliatori	le tagliatrici	the cutters
gli uomini	le donne	the men
i vecchi	le vecchie	the old men
i visitatori	le visitatrici	the visitors
gli zii	le zie	the uncles

Occasionally class exercises are used in our schools for the four forms of the Italian noun, masculine and feminine, singular and plural. They take the form almost of a game, which the children find amusing. A child for instance distributes around the class all the plural nouns. Then he reads aloud a noun in the singular. The child who holds the corresponding plural answers immediately. The same thing is next done for masculine and feminine, and, finally, for all four forms at once.

When these exercises have become familiar to the child, others somewhat more difficult may be presented. These new ones comprise: nouns which change form completely as they change gender and of which, so far, only the most familiar examples (babbo, "father," mamma, "mother," etc.) have been given (Series A); nouns in which the form is the same in the singular of both genders (Series B); those in which both genders have a common form in the singular and a common form in the plural (Series C); nouns which have only one form for both singular and plural (Series D); nouns where the same form appears in both genders but with a different meaning (Series E); finally, nouns which change gender as they pass from the singular to the plural (Series F).