cuisinaire rodscuisinaire rods. - Have the students demonstrate what 1/2 of an orange rod is (two yellows) and so on for each rod that is divisible by 2. Do the same thing for 1/3, 1/4, and 1/5 Have the students demonstrate two ways to show 2/3 of light green. (Two whites or 1 red). Do the same thing for each possible combination for the rods. For example 2/5 of orange. 2/3 of blue. 3/4 of brown and so on. Fraction circles VS. Fraction rods - part of a group -
Compare magnetic fraction circles with magnetic fraction rods. Have a discussion on why we use circles to show fractions. I can see that 1/3 of a circle is a part of a circle. It's a piece of it and there's something missing. Show the fraction rod for 1/3 and we talked about how 1/3 of a rectangle is still a rectangle and I can't immediately see that it is a piece of something bigger. Explain that a fraction can be a part of anything. Use this to launch into problems like: Mark made 1/3 of his shots in basketball. If he threw the ball 18 times, how many baskets did he make? |
Fraction circlesfraction circles - need: cardstock circles, ruler or straight edge, protractor Have the students make their own set of fraction circle manipulatives using colored cardstock. Use colors that match the magnetic set of fractions circles. I bought a 3 1/2" circle punch. You can make 9 circles out of a 12X12 inch sheet of cardstock, but only 4 out of a 8 1/2 X 11" sheet of cardstock. 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 - Wholes, halves, fourths, and eights are really easy. Students just fold the circles in half and cut. For other fractions it was a bit trickier. First the student has to find and mark the center of the circle. You can do this by taking the 1/2 circle piece and tracing along the center edge then moving and doing it again. The place where the two lines meet is the center. 1/3, 1/6, 1/12 - Once you find the center you need one radius. Mark from the center to the edge of the circle. From there you use a protractor to measure 120 degrees to find thirds. To find 1/6 you can do this and then cut each piece in half. We talked about how there is more than one way to do things. Same for 1/12. 1/5, 1/10 - Once you find the center you need one radius. Mark from the center to the edge of the circle. From there you use a protractor to measure 72 degrees to find fifths. To find 1/10 you can do this and then cut each piece in half. We talked about how there is more than one way to do things. |
Playing cardscards - Use playing cards to explain that another word for fraction is "rational number" which relates to ratio or a relationship between things. Explain how this relates to probability.
First we calculated how many cards are in a deck (or modified deck) of cards. Then ask students the fraction of red cards in the deck. The fraction of hearts in a deck. The fraction of 9's in a deck and so on. Krypto - add the fraction cards to the regular Krypto cards. You lay out 6 numbered cards. You have to add, subtract, multiply and/or divide the first 5 cards to make it equal the last card. This game requires students to think creatively. There can be more than one way to manipulate the numbers to get the "answer." This is a great game. You don't actually need the "Krypto" cards, any numbered cards will work.
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