Fun With Fractions

Objectives: Students will compare unit fractions by reasoning about their size using fraction strips.

Activities:
Fluency/Warm-up (whole group) – On their i-pads students play the fraction matcher game on the PHET interactive stimulations website. This game reviews previous material by allowing students to match pictures to the appropriate fraction, and it also prepares students for the comparison that will occur in today’s lesson.

Concept Development (small group) – The class is split in half. While one group receives the lesson with me for 30 minutes (Part 1,2, and 3), the other group works through lessons aligned with the curriculum online at Zearn.org.

Part 1 - The lesson begins with students on an interactive site where they can manipulate unit fractions (Mirshahi – fraction bars). Students arrange the unit fractions in order from smallest to largest. Students are asked to think-pair-share to discuss any pattern that they notice with the numbers and the size of the unit. Then, using the nearpod app, students will write and submit their responses on their ipad.

Part 2 - Students are asked how knowing the size of a unit fraction can be applicable to their daily lives. They share their responses on the collaborative feature on nearpod. Students will see their classmate’s responses as they appear on the promethean board.

Part 3 – Students are given a chance to apply this new concept of unit fraction sizes to a real life situation. Students are asked to draw 5 uncut pizzas on their i-pads. They are asked to cut the first pizza like they are sharing it with one other person (into halves), the second pizza like they are sharing it with 2 other people (into thirds), the third pizza like they are sharing it with 3 other people (into fourths), the fourth pizza like they are sharing it with 5 other people (into sixths), and the last pizza like they are sharing it with 7 other people (into eighths). Students are asked to label each pizza slice with the unit fraction. We then discuss what happened to the size of the pizza slices as we shared with more people. Finally, the students compare the pizza situation to the unit fractions and discuss how the slices show the same pattern that they recognized in the unit fractions.

Problem Set (independent) – Students access a short worksheet created on Wizer.Me where they are able to apply the concept of the day.

Exit ticket/formative assessment: Students use their i-pads to join a quick quiz on Kahoot.