Identity Crisis

There is no escaping the realm of fractions! We are bound to encounter fractions in every aspect of our life. Instead of avoiding fractions, it is best that we as teachers are comfortable in this area of math. In class this week we tackled the number sense strand of math and specifically explored the identity of fractions.

We started the class with picking our favourite fraction, and I chose 1/2. I was thinking of picking another complicated fraction but decided to stick with this easy and more common fraction not knowing what adventures lay ahead. The fraction was then represented using a variety of manipulatives. I then had to add the fraction my elbow partner had, and we both happened to pick 1/2.  This made it easy as our sum added to a whole or 1. I appreciated the class discussion that later took place where I got to observe why certain individuals chose their particular fraction. Some chose mixed fractions (which I had not even considered), while others chose numbers like 5/8 just because it was a complex fraction. Fractions come in all forms and are quite a diverse form of numbers just like the diverse range of learners in a classroom. Fractions are found in percentage, as whole numbers, mixed numbers, proper and improper fractions. Getting students comfortable with the various identities of fractions and their special trademarks will allow them to easily recognize their various forms.

Different ways to represent 1/2 with reference to yellow block
representing a whole (Khalid, N © 2016)

With the abundance of manipulatives to represent fractions, students can explore in ways that allow them to engage in their learning. Possibly every child’s favourite and mine off-course, chocolate! We were generously offered a bar of chocolate per table of four and were asked to cut the Hershey’s chocolate bar into 12 pieces. We could then follow along with the book that was being read to us by the teacher.The book represented all the fractions that dealt with 12 parts of a whole. This book makes the listener, not only engaged in the story but also take an active role in representing all the various fractions with the chocolate in front of them. Who knew fractions can be so delicious! However, if I chose not to use chocolate in my class, I could also use an inexpensive manipulative such as egg cartons or clocks printed out on paper. I personally did not know there were so many ways of representing fractions and was pleasantly surprised!

Chocolate used as a manipulative (Khalid, N © 2016)

All the activities were great, the colourful plates used to represent fractions really stood out to me. Children like nice bright colours and things they can touch and feel. What was interesting was that musical rhythms were incorporated in this activity to show that fractions happily exist in the world of music as well. Musically attuned children can easily engage in this activity, and with a great introduction, the whole class can be engaged in this activity. The deck of cards was used as a competitive game to see which student got the highest fraction. However at my placement I saw the deck of cards used differently. Students had to generate the highest number only with the cards dealt to each player. It was great to see a variety of different ways to use a deck of cards. I walked away from this class with a hope that with all the wonderful tools and techniques available for our use, the journey to teaching fractions will be stimulating and an engaging one.