The notion of having to teach fractions was not daunting to me prior to the peer-teaching lesson this term. Although it was not the topic I was responsible for teaching, after having gone through I realized how challenging it is going to be to communicate the basics of fractions students. I have since become concerned about how I am going to effectively teach this concept to students who have no prior knowledge of this topic. For this reason I have selected six sources that offer creative and innovative strategies on how to teach fractions to students. Though the article I have selected offer creative strategies that put fractions into a context that students can relate to, each one of them emphasize the need for students to understand the practical application of fractions.
Annotations
Anderson, C., Anderson, K., Wenzel, E. (2000). Oil and Water don’t Mix, but they do Teach Fractions. Teaching
Children Mathematics, 7(3), 174-178.
This source is unique from other approaches to teaching fractions for two reasons: firstly it is
multidisciplinary, and secondly it is engaging. In the lesson described in this article the teachers
use oil and water to introduce students to the concept of fraction, while simultaneously discussing
the different properties or liquids. In the example discussed the students are each given their own
beakers, cup of water and two cups of cooking oil. Each student was engaged and filled their
beakers 1/3, 2/3, 3/3 full of liquids. This is an excellent example of how to make fractions exciting
for students get the interested in what they are learning. The teachers whom prepared this lesson
are highly innovative and I am grateful that they have shared their teaching strategies. Fractions
are a difficult concept to teach, and like this article suggest many high school graduates don’t fully
grasp them, meaning a greater emphasis must be placed on instructing students concretely. I
intend to keep this oil and water lesson in mind when I face the challenge of teaching students
about fractions in the future.
Bryan, T. Curry, J., Wilkerson, T. (2012) An Appetite for Fractions: Using candy bars as models gives sixth-grade
students a taste for learning to represent fractions whose denominators are factors of twelve. Teaching
Children Mathematics, 17 (2) 90-91.
In this article the authors describes the lengths to which some teachers have gone to teach
students about fractions. A local school in Texas received a grant to establish a Saturday
afternoon mathematics program to give struggling students the opportunity to engage in a hands-
on workshop to learn fractions. In this scenario, the teachers provided the students with a whole
chocolate bar to allow them to discover fractions. The teachers in this study to not merely ask that
students develop the skills to write fractions, but they also preach the appropriate fractional
language and figurative representations of them which is one aspect that can become secondary
especially when students become distracted by the presence of candy. Although it is controversial
to incorporate unhealthy foods in a academic lesson I think that for the purposes of this lesson, it
was effective; this makes me question how stern the province of New Brunswick is in terms of
using chocolate bars as manipulatives. Regardless of where the department of education stands
on this issue I found “An Appetite for Fractions” to a valuable resource that offers a unique
method to connect mathematics to the real world.
Confry, J., Edgington, C., Myers, M., Wilson, P. (2012) Fair Shares, Matey, or Walk the Plank. Teaching Children
Mathematics. 18 (8) 482-489.
The focus of this article is how to encourage students in early elementary to develop
justifications for fair share. The authors describe a thematic approach to encourage student to
reflect on how they have decided to divide the items in the treasure chest (pirate themed). I found
this to be a valuable resource as it offers helpful hints as to how teachers can informally introduce
students to the early stages of fractions. Understanding that the roots of fractions are in fair
sharing – which is a concept that many children learn at a young age (especially if they have
siblings) is described as being a pivotal aspect as students progress towards fractions. If I am ever
in the position where I am teaching the early phases of fractions, the teaching strategies
described in this article to promote fair sharing will be valuable.
Ellington, A., Whitenack, J., (2010) Fractions and the Funky Cookie. Teaching Children Mathematics. 19 (9) 532-
539.
“Fractions and the Funky Cookie” is the result of an impromptu fraction lesson. In this scenario the
teacher was put on the spot when she realized that although students grasped the concept that 1/8
meant that the whole was divided into eight pieces and there was one remaining, they didn’t
understand that all eight pieces had to be of equal size. The teacher describes how she used
geometric shapes to illustrate the need for all pieces of a whole to be of equal size and shape in
order to represent a fraction. The class of grade five students had spent previous years studying
fractions before finally grasping this significant detail about the concept. Although the approach of
using familiar manipulatives to portray the need for equal parts, what is equally as striking and an
aspect that I will take away from this article is the need to assess/review students prior knowledge
before continuing on in a curriculum. In the case discussed, the teacher had intended this to be a
warm up activity, but it subsequently became the lesson when she realized that students had a
shaky understanding of this crucial aspect of fractions.
Empson, S., Levi, L., Carpenter, T. (2011) The Algebraic Nature of Fractions: Developing Relational Thinking in
Elementary School. Early Algebrization:Advances in Mathematics Education. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-
17735-4_22
The authors research in assessing the process by which students develop a thorough understanding
of fractions focused on two key issues; the first point was the conceptual relationship between
whole-numbers and fractions, the second being the role of problem solving and students
understanding of the equal sign with fractions. Students understanding of fractions progresses over
time; each academic year students are challenged to understand a novel dimension of this concept.
This article reveals how easily is it for students to slip through the cracks and how significant of an
impact this can have on their knowledge of mathematics in general. I found this to be an extremely
valuable resource as it provides a concise overview of how students understand fractions at
different grade levels. Another key point that the authors make it that there is often multiple ways
to solve a math problem, and this is particularly true for math. Two students may answer a simple
fraction question using radically different approaches, and so long as their answer was reached
using a logical method than the answer should be accepted.
Whitin, D., Whitin, P. (2012) Making Sense of Fractions and Percentages. Teaching Children Mathematics. 18 (8)
490- 496.
Whitin and Whitin’s article describes a unique approach to engaging students in their learning. The
students were asked to conduct a survey, for example two students polled students on who in the
family picks out the cereal. Students were actively involved in collecting data within a relevant
context, and were then asked to represent their conclusions in a pie chart and express each portion
both fractionally and as a percentage. This article offers innovative strategies to engage youth in
their mathematics. By putting fractions and decimals in a context that students can relate to has
created a sense of enthusiasm among the students in the class. One of the key things that I will take
away from this article is the potential to successfully achieve multiple curricular standards through
one comprehensive lesson. This article has the potential to inspire several innovative and creative
ways to teach fractions to elementary school aged children.