Read unit fractions (halves, thirds, quarters, fifths and tenths)
Build a Fraction
Timeframe: 5-10mins
Audience:1 student, small group or whole class
Materials: device
Summary: Students look at the pictorial representation and then make the fraction representation to match. Discuss the meaning of the denominator and numerator and what it represents in both the fraction and picture.�
Guiding questions: How many equal parts is the shape shared/divided/cut/broken up into and what is the mathematical word for this? How many parts are we interested in / going to eat/ taking / using / shading and what is the mathematical word for this? What does the line in the fraction represent?�
Make a Fraction Wall
Timeframe: 30 mins
Audience: whole class, small group, 1 student
Materials: A4 paper strips in at least five different colours (one colour per student)
Summary: students fold strips of paper to make various proper fractions. It will be easier to start with one whole, halves, quarters and eighths. The glue each one under the other to enable comparisons and write the unit fractions on each strip of paper.
Guiding questions: How many fold lines for half? How many parts for half? How many fold lines for thirds/quarters? How many parts for thirds/quarters? What is the denominator and how do you know? What is the numerator and why? How many make a whole? What's another name for 4/8?
Interactive Fraction Wall
Time frame: 10 minutes
Audience: whole class, small group, 1 student
Materials: device
Summary: Click on each part of the fraction wall to reveal the unit fraction.
Guiding questions: What does the denominator represent? What does the numerator represent? How many of these unit fractions make one whole? What does this look like for other shapes? What do you notice about each size? Would you rather have 1/2 or 1/6? Why?
Chocolate Activity
Timeframe: 15 - 20 minutes
Audience: whole class
Materials: 6 blocks of chocolate or 6 pictures/representations of a block of chocolate
Summary:This challenge is about chocolate. You have to imagine (if necessary!) that everyone involved in this challenge enjoys chocolate and wants to have as much as possible. You have three tables in it with plenty of space for chairs to go round. Table 1 has one block of chocolate on it, table 2 has two blocks of chocolate on it and, guess what, table 3 has three blocks of chocolate on it.
Guiding questions: How much chocolate is on the first table? How many people would it have to be shared between? So, how much chocolate would each person get if you went to the first table? How about on the second table? ... third table?
Source: NRICH https://nrich.maths.org/problems/chocolate
Ninny Ninny
Timeframe: 20 minutes
Audience: whol class
Materials: 3 red teddy bear counters, 3 green teddy bear counters and 3 blue teddy bear counters
Summary: The is usually placed as part of a chance unit, however it is effective in helping students understand fractions of collections. Place 3 blue, 3 red and 3 green counters, or similar, in a container. Students need to guess/predict what colour counter you will draw from the container. Once drawn, colour stays out. For each of the nine draws students need to predict the colour and record predicted and actual results on the game sheet.
Guiding Questions: How many teddies are left in total? How many of those are blue? Red? Green? What do you notice about the denominator as we draw the teddies out?
Source: Rob Vingerhoets https://robvingerhoets.com.au/maths/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Ninny-Ninny-Gamesheet-SP-5-6.pdf
Make This..
Time frame: 5 minutes
Audience: whole class, small group, 1 student
Materials: 20 counters per student
Summary: The educator guides students to represent fractions with counters. Eg. Students all start with 4 counters. Reveal that this is 2/5. Can they make 5/5 or one whole with the counters?
Guiding questions: What did you do first? Why? What strategy did you use? What challenged you? What is one fifth? Three fifths? Four fifths?
Source: Victorian Academy of Teaching Excellence. Creator TBA
Rob Vingerhoets Fraction Warm Ups
Timeframe: 5-10 minutes
Audience: Whole class, small group, individual
Materials: device to project the visual of your chosen warm up on the screen.
Summary: Here are two collections of warmups that can help turn students into thinking about fractions and facilitate good whole class discussion. Some of these could also serve as early finisher tasks.
Guiding questions: Can you prove it? What made you think that? Can you share an example of this? Does anyone have a different idea? Can you elaborate on this? Can anyone add to this idea?
Reverse Fractions
Time frame: 10 minutes
Audience: Whole class, small group, individual
Materials: 20 counters per student
Summary: Display 10 counters and explain to the students that this is a collection of 10 counters and it is 1/2 of the number of counters you started with. Students have to work out how many you started with and explain why they think their answer is correct. This can be repeated for 1/4 etc.
Guiding questions: Did students all solve it the same way? What strategies did you use? How many counters is 1/3? How do you know? How are fractions related to division/sharing?
Source: Victorian Academy of Teaching Excellence. Creator TBA