Fun with Fractions: Teacher’s Guide

Unit Overview:

This unit will introduce the concept of fractions with activities and lessons that cater to visual, auditory, and tactile learning styles. Students will create fractions with a variety of manipulatives, solve problems with fractions, play games with fractions, and explore fractions in their everyday lives. The unit will also integrate language arts, as students write fraction stories and read literature related to fractions.

Unit Objectives:

Students will be able to:

·          Explain the concept of whole and 1/2.

·          Demonstrate whole and 1/2.

·          Identify instances in their everyday lives that use fractions.

·          Show fluency with 1/2.

·          Identify numerator and denominator.

·          Identify and write fractions 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/6, 1/8, 1/10, 2/4, 2/6, 2/8, 3/4, 3/6, and 3/8.

·          Compare fractions and explain why fractions are smaller or bigger than one another.

·          Understand that bigger fractions have smaller denominators.

·          Understand that two different fractions can equal one another.

·          Identify written fractions.

·          Apply fractions in a setting outside of mathematics.

·          Write a complete story about fractions.

Unit Calendar:

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Best Practices:

·          Organize Materials and Give Clear Instructions

Ø       Use bins to have group sets of materials ready to hand out to students. Each bin should contain everything a group needs to successfully complete an activity or game.

Ø       Give clear instructions for each and every task. No task is too small for instructions.

·          Assign Jobs to Group Members

Ø       Give each group member a specific task. For example, tell partners, “You are number one. You are number two. Number one will do this and number two will do this.”

·          Allow Adequate Time for Exploration

Ø       Put materials in front of students and give them three to five minutes to explore before beginning the experiment.

Ø       Ask guiding questions such as: “What do you notice about the materials? How are they alike? How are they different?”

Standards:

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Standards

NCTM Number and Operations Standard:

·          Develop a sense of whole numbers and represent and use them in flexible ways, including relating, composing, and decomposing numbers.

·          Understand and represent commonly used fractions, such as 1/4, 1/3, and 1/2.

NCTM Data and Analysis and Probability Standard:

·          Pose questions and gather data about themselves and their surroundings.

NCTM Process Standard:

·          Build new mathematical knowledge through problem solving.

·          Apply and adapt a variety of appropriate strategies to solve problems.

·          Communicate their mathematical thinking coherently and clearly to peers, teachers, and others.

·          Recognize and apply mathematics in contexts outside of mathematics.