More than Pizza and Brownies

Okay...I can admit it...I have food issues....a lot of people do these days. It seems that the 'go to' analogy for teaching fraction concepts is always food related. As I was going through my book collection and preparing my blog entries about fractions I realized that the majority of the stories we use have the characters portioning out food in fair shares. Given that obesity is a serious health issue in our culture, perhaps we educators we should be sensitive to the messages we send to children. For example, through our literature selections we can teach that fractions are more than just pizza, pies and brownies.



Toward that end, here are a few books that use non-food models to convey fraction concepts:

In Jump, Kangaroo, Jump Kangaroo and his friends separate into various groups to compete in Field Day exercises.

Eight messy bunkmates win the prize for the cleanest cabin in the funny fraction tale A Limpiar El Campamento! (Clean-Sweep Campers).

Readers of Polar Bear Math learn about fractions following the care of two baby polar bears born in a zoo.

In Go Fractions! the soccer coach and math teacher names his team fractions and the player numbers on each uniform are fractions. The team does share a food item in this story, but since the food is a healthy choice we'll include the title in this list.

Let's talk
I'd like to hear from you. What are your thoughts about using food models to teach fraction concepts? What about eating scenarios when teaching problem-solving strategies? It has been a while since I have been a classroom teacher, so I may be off-base. I want to know your opinion. Post a comment to this post by Monday, June 6, 2011 and you'll be in a drawing for a copy of Learning Algebra with Pizza by Dawn McMillen. (Yes, my attempt at irony!)

Here are the giveaway rules:

1. Leave one comment on this post anytime between now and Monday, June 6, 2011 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time. You are limited to one entry. The contest is limited to US residents only.

2. For this contest, I will pick one winner at random from the comments section of this post. The comments will be numbered in the order they are received, i.e. the first comment is #1, the second #2, and so on. The Random Integer Generator at random.org will be used to pick the number of the winner.

3. The contest winner will be posted by Wednesday, June 8th. The winner will have one week to email me to claim their prize.

More about fractions

Continuing our exploration of fractions let's look at Fraction Action by Loreen Leedy, a beginner chapter book of five stories that are useful for reinforcing concepts such as dividing geometric shapes into fractions, dividing sets of objects into equal parts, cutting fruit into equal shares, and dividing a dollar into fractions. Other titles you may want to consider are Full House: An Invitation to Fractions by Dayle Ann Dodds and Give Me Half by Stuart Murphy.



Teaching Tip
Pattern Blocks are great manipulatives for developing understanding of fraction concepts. Alternatively, if you do not have access to the blocks you can provide students with paper models of this tool using a pattern block template or have them explore using virtual pattern blocks. Give students either model then challenge them to find fractional parts of the whole.

Chick here for a treasure trove of online activities that teach fraction concepts.
Funny & Fabulous Fraction Storiesby Dan Greenberg and Jared Lee is a useful resource book for teachers.

Introducing Fraction Concepts

This week we will explore books that can be used to teach fraction concepts. First up Fraction Fun by David A. Adler teaches the basic concept that a fraction is a part of something. In Apple Fractions by Jerry Pallotta different varieties of apples are used to demonstrate halves, thirds, fourths etc. Whole-y Cow: Fractions Are Fun by Taryn Souders introduces fractions both as part of a whole and part of a group.

Teaching Tip
Use apples to replicate the demonstrations in Apple Fractions. Not only are apples a healthy treat, they can easily be halved, quartered and compared.

Click here to have students explore equivalent fractions using an Illuminations activity.

Memorial Day Math

For some, Memorial Day is simply a 3-Day weekend that marks the unofficial kick-off for summer. Actually, the first Memorial Day observance was in 1868 when flowers were placed on the graves of soldiers in Arlington National Cemetry. You can use this Memorial Day to teach students the true meaning which is to honor those who have given their lives in service for our nation.

I do not have suggestions for math concept books today, but you can click here for a list of books about Memorial Day that you may find helpful.


Teaching Tip
For a math tie in, students can use fractions and geometry skills to construct a patriotic patchwork quilt using red, white and blue construction paper.

A Million Fish...More or Less

With my own family roots deep in the South Louisiana marshland, today I am compelled to mark the one-year anniversary of the Deep Water Horizon disaster and subsequent oil spill that continues to impact the Gulf of Mexico. Rather than bemoan the on-going devastation and unknown long-term impact, I want to pay tribute to the strength and bravery of the citizens. For generations the unique culture has taken hit after hit, but each time these resilient people pick themselves up, patch their lives back together then continue moving forward.

In A Million Fish…More or Less, Patricia C. McKissack aptly captures optimistic spirit found in those who live on the bayou. This yarn, set in the Louisiana swamp, takes exaggeration to a whole new level. McKissack ‘s fish tale can easily be incorporated into a lesson on place value, estimation, or even division of fractions. In my opinion, it provides a natural segue into a lesson on reasonable and unreasonable estimations.

Teaching Tip
I found two lesson plans for you. The first is from TI Education and the second is from Scholastic. Share your ideas for teaching with this book by adding your comments to this post.