We have been exploring fractions lately. We started out cutting up an apple and talking about what fraction of the apple the pieces were. The students were able to recognize that two parts needed to be equal for them to be halves, and so forth. We also worked with blackberries to begin talking about fractions of a group of things. The additional value of these materials was that we could eat them when we finished.
We went on to make fraction kits, an activity from Marilyn Burn's
About Teaching Mathematics: A K-8 Resource. In the activity, the students cut identically sized and multi-colored strips of paper up different ways. First they cut one in half and label each piece 1/2. The next strip is cut in 4 equal pieces and labeled appropriately. By the time we get to the fifth piece, the children have cut and written a lot. They are worried that they will need to cut this piece into 32 pieces, so they are relieved that this piece stays intact to represent 1 or 1/1.
After we made our fraction kits, we learned the game
Cover Up, in which they roll a fraction cube to get pieces to cover the whole piece. On Friday we used the kits to explore equivalent fractions as well as how fractions add together. Later we will learn the game
Uncover. It is a great hands on activity.
