Overview:
Understanding fractions and their relationship to the number
line presents the first obstacle which later is manifest in students
difficulty in adding and multiplying fractions. Since many
students are visual learners and develop meaningful relationship through
the use of manipulatives, students can use
online
pattern blocks with
instructions or actual pattern blocks to learn to understand
fractions, add fractions and multiply fractions as well as determine
percentages.NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards:
- Standard 5 Tools and
Technology
- Standard 6 Number
Sense
- Standard 8 Numerical
operation
Materials:
Suggested Classroom Environment:
- Computer lab
- Class set of pattern blocks, enough for everyone to participate
- One computer classroom with a projector
Procedure:
A. Setting the Stage
The only prerequisite is a brief introduction to fractions which
should cover fractions as a representation of a part of a whole.
These activities should help students to consider "what is the
whole?" and "what part of the whole is this fraction?"
The activities are saved as Microsoft Word files so that you may
modify them any way to suit how you would like the activities to go.
The last question in some activities is a "tricky question" and you
may wish to eliminate it. Or you may want to add some of your
own questions. You may also want to resort the questions.
Feel free to do so.
If you are using pattern blocks, be sure to consider how
you will keep track of all the blocks. You may want to divide
them up into smaller bags of a specified amount so that groups can
be held accountable.
B. Activity
One strategy is to start with the activity
Basic shapes, and go through
the first problem as an example problem for the class.
Then allow them time to complete the activity. The first
problem of the second section ("Based on these relations,")
should mirror the last problem of the previous section giving
students a natural link illustrating the relationship between
the fraction and it's reciprocal. Question 5 is a question that many
students may answer with 1 instead of 1 1/2. This is a
good question to go over with the whole class. Ask them
how can we account for the different sizes and the piece that is
extra.
Next, either in succession or after a time, start
Shape Logic. The
activities are not number because this will give the teacher the
option to skip over or reorder the activities in any way they
see fit. Shape Logic gives
students a chance to dig into using the shapes by allowing them
to use the shapes for their answer. Consider that you may
want to specify the fewest number of pattern blocks or be ready
to accept 3
instead of 1
 .
Also, it is suggested that you use the
as the unit with which other measurements are made because it is
the smallest. Answers can be determined through other
methods, but it has been found a helpful hint to students who
are stuck on a problem. The last problem is labeled
"tricky" because it links us back to the numbers, since the
numbers are the entire focus of that problem. This
type of question is present to allow you to administer
differentiated instruction to a degree. Students who
quickly work through the activity will have something
challenging at the end. This question can be extra credit
or on that teachers go over with the class.
Adding Shapes now reverts
back to using numbers so that students can understand the
relationship between the fraction as a part of the whole.
Again the hint to use the
as the base unit to compare is a helpful one. Be careful
not to overlook the 2 subtraction problems. Also, the
final problem is again a "tricky question" because it can be
done mathematically but it is much easier to do with the shapes.
Make any modifications that you see fit so that the activity is
most useful to your students.
The next activity Shape Designs
challenges students by incorporating language arts into
their math curriculum. Understanding directions and
writing out clear directions are critical test taking skills
which students must overcome. The first part of this
activity students have to build a shape from directions and then
determine what fraction of the shape is each of the 4 colors.
Then they must calculate the percent that is each of the 4
colors. After that they can design their own shape which
will challenge them to write directions for another group to
follow.
The next activity
Multiplying Fractions challenges students to use the pattern
blocks to understand the resultant of multiplying two fractions
is always a fraction of the whole.
C. Debrief
Ask students what they learned from these activities? Try
some questions in which the shapes are not part of the question.
Do these questions seem any easier or harder? Watch for
students drawing shapes on the next test too!!
Assessment:
Answer keys:
Extensions / Related Activities:
|
