Teaching Fractions…Why Aren’t They Getting It?

Feb 26, 2016

As you know, we have recently blogged about CPA, and the importance of bringing the concrete and pictorial (or, representational) back into our teaching as a bridge to the very abstract world of math.  We can’t stress enough how much we see this missing from the curriculum used in the schools in our math initiatives. As teachers, we must find ways to get the concrete back into our teaching!

cpa fractions
As you know, we have recently blogged about CPA, and the importance of bringing the concrete and pictorial (or, representational) back into our teaching as a bridge to the very abstract world of math.  We can’t stress enough how much we see this missing from the curriculum used in the schools in our math initiatives. As teachers, we must find ways to get the concrete back into our teaching!
fraction tiles
Fraction Tiles with Tray

These fraction tiles are a great way to bring the concrete back into learning fraction concepts, and to provide both a visual and hands-on learning experience. With these color-coded tiles, students can manipulate parts of a whole to see how they relate to each other and use the tiles to perform simple math operations with fractions, decimals and percentages.fraction tiles 3
fraction tiles (1)
If you can’t get your hands on those manipulatives, or just don’t have the funds to purchase them, you can also check out these websites.
fractions work mat pic
http://www.glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/mathematics/ebook_assets/vmf/VMF-Interface.html

This website is great because you can choose grades prk-5 and what you want for your background, and what manipulative you want.
fraction website pic http://www.abcya.com/fraction_percent_decimal_tiles.htm
There are tabs on the left that say, “fractions,” “decimals,” and “percents.”  When you click on one of those tabs, it expands the screen full of manipulative that you can drag and drop onto the work mat. Not to mention, this website has a massive amount of other math and ELA resources.  Definitely worth exploring!

fraction manipulatives math playground http://www.mathplayground.com/math_manipulatives.html
This website gives you many choices of manipulatives to teach fractions.

Check out these great websites and resources to help with bringing the concrete back into teaching fractions.

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