I love fractions! It is one of the areas that our math curriculum - Investigations - does not really cover. So we use a bunch of resources to put together to help the beef up the sad enVision lessons. Here are some of the ideas I use. Hopefully you can find something fun to add to your fraction lessons. Also, please share if you have something that really works for you.
Fraction Lesson Plans
Start off your fraction lessons with asking students to choose how much of a cookie they want. Casually make a t-chart with ¼ and ½ on the chalkboard and have kids put sticky notes with their names to vote. Use the projector to cut a cookie and go over what the different parts of fractions mean…then watch their faces as they realize what a terrible choice they made! Then have pity on your students and let them re-vote.
Fraction Lesson Plans
Start off your fraction lessons with asking students to choose how much of a cookie they want. Casually make a t-chart with ¼ and ½ on the chalkboard and have kids put sticky notes with their names to vote. Use the projector to cut a cookie and go over what the different parts of fractions mean…then watch their faces as they realize what a terrible choice they made! Then have pity on your students and let them re-vote.
I also have some shapes cut up into pieces and pass them out. Then we put them together and talk about if they are fractions or not – they have to be equal pieces to be a fraction. Notice the purple paper has 3 parts and 2 are the same and 1 is not. I also have 2 hearts – one is broken into 2 equal pieces and the other is not. Make sure you have examples and non-examples for this activity. It really helps drive the discussion.
One of our warm up activities during our fractions unit is a picture match up. I take current class pictures and cut them up into equal parts. Then I play music and wait for them to find all of their pieces to make a picture. I write the fractions on the back each piece but don’t say anything about it. Once we have all found our groups I have them turn over the pieces and ask what they notice. They are all SO surprise that they have the same thing as their partners. And that all the groups that had 4 pieces have the same thing written. Again – this type of intention before the lesson helps drive the discussion during the lesson. This activity is always a favorite because it uses pictures and kids do love pictures of themselves and their friends.
I'm not going to lie...another reason I love fractions is I know summer is right around the corner when we get to this unit.
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