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connections with fractions
Posted:
Jun 15, 2000 7:16 PM
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I was very impressed with the connections my students were able to
make when ordering fractions this past spring when working in the
Different Shapes, Equal Pieces unit for the fourth grade. The
students had to organize the fractions according to Less than a Half,
A Half, Between a Half and One Whole, One Whole, and Greater than One
Whole. I felt that this was going to be so easy after all the work
with equivalency that we had been doing. However, I soon learned that
this was a great assessment of which students were truly able to grasp
the concept fluently. My fourth graders began slowly to observe why
particular fractions were being placed based on the relationship
between the numerator and the denominator. They had been so used to
making representations that it was a challenge to make the transfer to
cold numbers at first. Then students began to recognize the whole
fractions by noting that they had the same numerator and denominator,
students realized that when the numerator was half of the denominator,
that was the same as a half. They were so comfortable placing the
fractions after that, and they were confident in their placements. It
was truly great to see how excited they were at their success!
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