I am so thankful to colleagues who knew more than I did back in the day, and were generous enough to let me see “what they were doing for fractions”. We all need someone like that to lead the way and show us new things. That’s how I feel. It’s a team effort…
Fraction Ideas
In the spirit of paying it forward, here are some of the things I did for fractions that I think were effective, engaging, and important to do.
1. Anchor Charts
I always start my lessons with an Anchor Chart, but my charts are never 100% ready. When I show them to the kids for the first time, only a few parts are written in.
This Fractions Chart had the title, the heading and the drawings without the lines. I drew the lines as I explained, and wrote the vocabulary during the lesson.
Obviously, I plan ahead, so I know what I want it to look like and what information it needs, but I make a point to draw and write IN FRONT of the kids.
I do that because when students participate in creating the charts, they understand the content that much better. I also like showing them how I draw and write.
Some things I might say are, “Let me make sure to leave a space between my words”, or “If I go slow when I draw this like it’s going to look much better.” I just think it’s important to let them see how the things we tell them over and over apply to us in “real life”.
2. Practice Worksheets
Yup. I use them.
But I use them skillfully. I make sure each student is working on their level, that they’re engaged, and that the work is relevant to what my curriculum is.
I love the fractions worksheets I made for my own students. You can check them out here:
3. Fractions Pizza Activity (GET YOUR FREE TEMPLATE BELOW!)
You have probably seen something like this before. I’ve seen teachers use cookie fractions as well! They’re super cute! If you wanted to make cookies, you’d just change the toppings!
See what you’ll need for the Fractions Pizza Activity Below.
a. Integrate with Literacy
First, I like to read a book that links to the topic we’re learning. Sometimes the books go into things that my students aren’t able to understand yet. If that ever happens to you, it’s totally okay to pick and choose which pages you’ll read, and skip the ones that aren’t relevant to your lesson.
b. Prep Ahead of Time
In the interest of time, I traced the large pizza circles on construction paper for the kids to cut, but I cut the little cheese strips and pepperoni circles myself. Those are the kinds of mindless things that I can do at home watching TV…
Some teachers cut mushrooms, olives, and green peppers.
Something to Think About
My rule is that the effort I put into a lesson needs to translate into learning. So for me, it’s enough to have 2 toppings. More than that is cute and adorable and FINE to do. Just think if it adds to the activity enough to justify the time it will take away from other things you could be doing.
Okay. Back to steps…
c. Halves
To begin, I give them a “pizza disk” and ask them to fold in it half. They make each half with a different topping.
d. Fourths
Then, I give them another pizza and have them fold it into fourths. They add toppings to each fourth.
The ultimate goal is to have them use mathematical thinking and fractions vocabulary to describe their pizza!
Once the pizzas were made, we glued them to a large paper and wrote about them.
Back then, I typed the papers quickly and printed a bunch.
But for you, I made some cute templates that you can download below. I made them for halves, thirds, and fourths.
Here is the fractions template I made for you! Go ahead and download it!
e. Support
Obviously, as the kids were working, I walked around and had each kid tell me what they were making and what they were going to write on their pizza papers.
→I called the kids who weren’t sure to my table and helped them with the writing.
It’s also a good strategy to have your advanced students become “teacher helpers” once they are done. They can sit in a predetermined spot, and kids who need help can go to them while you work with your own little group.
Final Thoughts
I hope you give these ideas a try! As always I’m available at [email protected] if you have any questions! And if you have other ideas that could help a fellow teacher, drop them in the comments below!