Weekly Report & Reflection 3

So much to learn, so little time

Hello everyone! Thanks for coming back and checking out what I have been learning! I have lots to share with you in today's blog and cannot wait to get started!



This week was all about learning the different methods and manipulatives one could provide to their classroom to use for division problems and to understand division on a deeper level. Visuals and manipulatives have proven to help children better understand and remember concepts within mathematics because it is a hand on activity that can explain the why in a method other than paper and pen.

Manipulatives galore! 

We did multiple activities and were given various manipulatives to work with when solving the open problems. To begin we worked on our own and picked one fraction that we liked. This fraction would have been a proper, improper or mixed fraction. The fraction I chose was 3 1/4 . I had no other reason for picking this fraction other than it was appealing. Other fractions that my classmates picked ranged from 1/4, 5/8, 1/2. After choosing my own fraction we were asked to find different ways to represent our fraction. I began with shading in a fraction circle to represent mine (Image shown below).

Group Work time!

After doing this I used fraction circle pieces, one of the manipulatives our table was given, to represent my fraction. We were then asked to collaborate with out elbow partners and find ways of adding our fractions together using the manipulatives we wanted. As this was my first time ever using the fractions circles my partner and I agreed and enjoyed using those as one of our ways to show our fractions. Below is a picture of Daniella and I's fractions added together. To remind you my fraction was 3 1/4. There are 5 whole circles (whole numbers) and 3/4 of the yellow circle. Any idea of what Daniella's fraction was?

After doing this activity, as a class, we were introduced to the "Big Ideas about Fractions". This slide was very informative and I feel a great thing to share with my students in the future for them to better understand and grasp the concept and meaning behind fractions.

In this activity we were provided with old egg cartons and counters or shapes. This activity was eye opening to a new way of teaching children what fractions really means. We were given fractions and as a table, which quickly turned into a class conversation, we put in the counters or took out to represent the fraction given. For example, in the photo below, only half of the carton is filled with the yellow shapes therefore the fraction represented through this would be 1 / 2. This proved to get trickier and more difficult as the fractions were switched around but was a great method at learning to grasp and understand fractions. When students are doing this they could also use this method with mixed fractions - they would just have to fill an entire carton up to represent one whole! Fun and engaging way to get the best out of fractions.

The activity following this one we were provided with 3 clocks each. Our job was to divide correctly the clocks into the following:

1/4

1/2

1/3

At the end of the day....

I was able to learn so many different approaches and ways in which an educator can present to their students surrounding fractions. From my own experiences as a student and from witnessing students throughout volunteering I had come to the conclusion that fractions would always be too difficult to understand and grasp but after this weeks activities I am not only certain that these methods will be very useful in my classroom because they can help students reach a level of understanding that was not there before.

I cannot wait to see what happens next week,

Until then,

Emily

Hope all of you have a fantastic and safe Thanksgiving! Happy Turkey Day:)