Monday, December 10, 2012

Modeling Equivalent Fractions

Well...it has been several years since I have needed to teach equivalent fractions in 4th grade.  However, with the new Common Core Standards, equivalent fractions are back.  I am attempting to go slow with equivalent fractions since I have actually taught them throughout the years in elementary and middle school, and know how essential they are as benchmarks with other fraction standards.
We began modeling fractions by using fraction tiles.  The students created mini-posters of equivalent fractions by using fraction tiles.  I assigned my students specific fractions, such as 8/12.  They had to use the fraction tiles to problem-solve other equivalent fractions, then trace their solutions. 







Once the mini-posters were finished, our next lesson involved filling out a handout on equivalent fractions.  The fractions were created on the handout so that the fraction tiles will not work on the handout.  Students used fraction tiles to problem-solve actual equivalent fractions but, they had to convert this knowledge to the handout.  The only purpose the fraction tiles served on the handout was as a ruler to draw a straight line. :)  


This paper was used to begin allowing students to function without fraction tiles when modeling fractions.  You can find this handout, along with 94 other pages on equivalent fractions, in my TPT store by clicking on any of the 4 pictures below.







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