Putting It All Together: Fraction Wrap Up

I have been on quite the fraction kick.  But it came to an end today (well...does it ever REALLY come to an end?)  It came to a "formal" end with an assessment, but we will continue to revisit throughout the year.  But before we were ready for an assessment, we wanted to do some good ol' practice with fractions.

After all of our hands on activities: the ice cream, cracker divide, and fraction museum, we were ready to find out if they could apply it.  We decided on a Fraction SCOOT. We wanted something that allowed them to have practice.  But something that Jess and I could monitor and intervene with quickly.

This worked perfectly for both.

We set the classroom desks up in a square.  Jess and I stood in the middle so that we could move around, observe, and help as needed.
 Each kid had the answer sheet and there was one picture card on each desk.

They started to work and move!  Jess and I moved around and were able to quickly assess who needed more support and who understood the concept.  By the end of about 15 minutes, each kid had practiced the fraction concept 20 times.  YES!  That is just what we wanted.

Since I made several versions, we decided to try out one more with them.  It was a quick informal assessment for us, but good practice for them.  And some were very critical of the images that I used :)  So I changed them!

To follow up the lesson, we actually showed an episode of "Odd Squad."  Have you seen this show on PBS?  While my daughters were watching it, I discovered that it is very math based.  The episode we watched is called "Mystic Egg Pizza."  And it was PERFECT.  The fraction terms that we have teaching were used in this episode.  The kids had great discussions afterwards.  Click on the image below to check out the videos available on PBS.

Image from PBS.org

Do you have any great fraction lessons that you love to implement?  I would love to add them to our list to try out next year!  If you would like to check out Fraction SCOOTs, just click on the image below.

Real World Connections: Fraction Style Part 2

Fractions, fractions, fractions...I know!  I have been writing about them a lot.  So sorry!  It is only because I am so excited.

If you missed my previous posts, we have been working hard to make fractions connect to our students' lives.  We have been doing activities with ice cream, a Powerpoint and  sorts, and graham crackers.  And it has been working...so far!  Our next activity was a true test as to whether or not they could apply what we have been teaching.

Nicole from Colorful Teaching had written about a Fraction Museum that she had conducted in her classroom.  SOLD!  We had to try it out.

Jess and I collected items from home and around the school that we thought would fit into a fraction museum.  They were set up and ready to be chosen:

Each student had the opportunity to pick out the item that they would like to showcase in the museum.  We discussed how a museum is set up and that each item receives a plaque that describes the object and the creator.  Students filled out their "plaques" describing their fraction. Here are some of the examples:

We flipped the cards inside out so that you could only see their name on the outside.  As a class, we discussed the expectations and rules of a museum.  Then it was time to get started!

Each student walked around the museum with a recording sheet.  They wrote down the fractions that they discovered.

Once the sheets were completed, we checked our answers by looking inside the "plaques".  There was so much excitement in the room by the teachers and students :)

I have to be honest...I was worried about this lesson.  It was either going to go REALLY well or REALLY bad. Phew!! It went well.

I found this video from Scholastic that shows a fraction museum in action!

Have you tried this in your classroom?  Did your students respond well to it?

Real World Connections: Fraction Style Part 1

We were all about the fractions this past week!  And it was SO.MUCH.FUN!
Honestly, I think it was fun because they understood it!  That always makes the teacher just a bit happier...right :)

As I listened, observed, and took mental notes all week, I realized that they were "getting" it because we provided them with so many real-world, hands-on experiences to connect to.

It all started with the ice cream party to introduce equal and unequal.  If you missed that post, no worries!  Just click on "ice cream party" to check it out! 
Then we moved right into our Powerpoint that introduced fractions with photographs of real objects and situations that can happen.  We did some fraction sorts and cut up some pizzas and cookies to really hit home the idea of halves, thirds, and fourths.

Then we moved right into explaining how a whole can be split in different ways.  Jess and I knew that we wanted to do this with rectangular bars that the kids could divide.  But through our discussion we decided that eating graham crackers during the lesson would be really helpful!  And...sure enough...it was! 

I started the lesson by eating one whole graham cracker.  Then students colored in the rectangle on their recording sheet.  Then Jess ate 1/2 of a graham cracker.  They colored that in and wrote the fraction.  We proceeded by eating a third of the cracker and then a fourth. 

Our students thought it was so unfair that I got to eat the whole!  They discovered quickly that a fourth was smaller than a half.  The class decided that they would rather have half a cracker than a fourth.
YES!! SUCCESS!
For days a student repeatedly talked about the fact that I ate a WHOLE! (umm....I can eat a lot more than that!)

The power of real word connections (and food, honestly) is never surprising but always astounds me!

Introducing Equal and Unequal

 Fractions.....Oh my goodness, I love them!

There always seems to be so many fun and engaging activities that can be done with fractions.  I get excited and look forward to it each year.

As my teammate, Jess, and I sat down to start talking about fractions we decided to start with a lesson on equal versus unequal.  This is the first part to understanding fractions and we wanted to make sure that they had a good understanding of this concept before we even got started.

The brainstorming started.

And I don't know how but the conversation led us to ice cream (well...not that surprising...I am typically thinking about food).  We wanted to somehow get the kids to experience equal and unequal instead of us just teaching them about it.

Here is what we came up with:
We decided to throw a little ice cream party for our classes.  Each kid was given ice cream inside a small clear cup (we wanted them to be able to see what everyone had).

We asked them to be polite and not eat any of the ice cream until everyone had some.  Once it was all passed out, Jess and I just stood there.  Waiting.....

They were all trying so hard to be polite and not complain about what they were given.  But finally we heard "why did I get more than Steve?"  The conversation started! 

We said, "What do you mean?"  The students went on to explain how they knew that the ice cream cups were not equal and how unfair that was.  This led into connections about times that this has happened to them with siblings, cousins, or friends.
This was just...what...we...wanted!  The emotional connection.

So we dug in!  We discussed the importance of dividing things equally at times and started to talk about fractions.  And we weren't planning to do so, but we brought up a Powerpoint I made last year that shows some real world examples of fractions in use.

It just went so well.  It was one of those super nice moments where you leave the lesson smiling, feeling good, and hoping that it sticks.

But the true test is always the next day, right? 

The next day we pulled up the second part of the Powerpoint to formally begin looking at fractions and what they really mean.  Our class started cheering.  What!  So silly but SO glad that we made a lasting impression on them.  Or if we didn't, at least the ice cream did :)

A Week of Fractions

 I had it ALL planned out perfectly.  Each lesson was going to flow so nicely....they would all connect...were so engaging...the materials were all created.
I also had an observation planned.  Preconference questions were completed....lesson plans triple checked and submitted....materials were all handy, ready to go.

Then the week came and with it came sick days and ice.  And what else can you do but...scream, cry, complain...smile and roll with it.

Day1:
Natalie and I introduced fractions this year with a Powerpoint presentation.  It showed real objects split into fractions.  Then it broke down what a fraction is and how it applies to everyday life.  I wasn't sure how it was going to go.  You spend hours making something, thinking it will be just perfect and it bombs.  This didn't.  I think it really helped them to understand the concept and got them excited. YES!!!

Day 2:
We wanted to continue to build on the foundation that we had set through our discussion with the Powerpoint.  So we started this lesson off with a sort of equal versus unequal. Our goal was to make sure they understood this before moving on.

 Once we did the quick sort together, we moved into analyzing how we can take the same shape (rectangle) and split it into halves, thirds, or fourths.  The Common Core standard requires our firsties to use lots of different language to describe the shares or parts.  We worked on modeling how to use this language as we cut the rectangle and labeled the parts.  At the end of the lesson, each student had  little book to take home and share with their families.

 (I made my own model as we worked on theirs.  But I labeled mine using some of the different vocab like "quarter" or "fourth."  But, of course, I forgot to take a picture!)

Day 3:
We have introduced, modeled, and now we wanted them to apply this.  Cynthia from KinderKay had a book that helped us with this.  The students had to divide the shapes equally and write the corresponding fraction.

I gave a really quick quiz (not a graded one) to see where they were in their learning.  This helped me for day 4.

Day 4:
My goal for this lesson was to understand if they could sort fractions but then EXPLAIN their thinking.  I really wanted to know what language they could/would use for this.
First, I looked at the pre-assessment and gave them a sort that I felt worked on the skills they needed.  I had created differentiated fraction sorts.

Then I asked each kid in my group to explain how they sorted their shapes/objects.  A couple students sorted their shapes incorrectly.  When it was their turn, they told us how they had sorted incorrectly and that they learned this by listening to the others in their group.  It was one of those moments where I just wanted to cry.  I was so EXCITED to see them learning from each other.
As they discussed their sorts, I used this little checklist to help me see what words they were using or not using.

Day 5:
Natalie and I assessed our firsties on fractions.  They did really well.  We were so pleased.  But we still had a couple of lessons that we just really wanted to do because we love them.  These will happen next week or as a follow up at the end of the year.

Even though the week was filled with some weather/sick craziness, I think we conquered (or st

Wednesday WOW--Fraction Giveaway

 Snow days and cold days (cold, Cold, COLD) have led me to have very few instructional days this month.  But it has given me time to do some thinking, planning, and creating.  I am excited to share what I have been working on for the Wednesday WOW! this week!
I hope you can link up with a WOW moment from your week (personal or professional).

Next week we begin fractions with our little firsties.  I always enjoy teaching this (probably because it is a way to discuss food---and I LOVE food!)  But I wanted to come up with some new ideas...that got me thinking, planning, and creating :)

Here's what I came up:
First up...a Powerpoint to introduce fractions.  It shows real images of where we see objects broken into parts.  There are illustrations to show what a fraction is and what the numbers mean.  There are even some problems where fractions had to be used for the solution. (Here is a sneak peek)

  

 

Second up...I needed some differentiated sorts because my students typically are at different levels of understanding.  Once I got started on this...it just kind of snowballed (no surprise, really).  I made several sorts:
whole, half
whole, half, fouths
whole, half, thirds, fourths
equal, unequal
Each sort has several different types of sorting mats, different options of what to sort (really...it snowballed)

I think it could be all the snow days and sitting on the couch...but I am super excited about this set.  I can't wait to use it next week.  Hopefully, it will prove to be as useful as I believe it will be.

Because I am so excited about it...I want to give some away!  So I thought I would throw a little giveaway!  I haven't decided on the number of winners...it will depend on how many entries there are.  The more entries, the more winners!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Just one more WOW for the week: one lost tooth!

Hope you link up your WOW!!