From: Nina (for Teacher2Teacher Service)
Date: Dec 03, 1998 at 19:05:51
Subject: Re: Connecting fractions with money

Jess, Hi!

What a good topic to teach. Kids need more concrete connections between the
worlds of fractions and decimals.  As you have discovered, dividing 100 by 5,
10, and 25 is easy. My suggestion is to use play money (coin denominations),
put kids in small groups, and have them share a dollar among a group of 4
(easy), 5 (easy), 3, 6, and 8 (not so easy). They will discover that they
could do it if they had 1/2 cent, 1/3 cent, or if they gave a penny or two to
charity. They might learn something about divisibility of 100, fractions of a
number, and decimal equivalents of simple fractions.

As an extension, they could divide up $2, $3, etc., among their group and
keep track of what works easily and what doesn't.

Good luck!

 -Nina, for the Teacher2Teacher service

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