Fractions

Fractions are so fun, yet challenging to teach. They are mathematically rich, cognitively complicated, and essential in understanding and interpreting our everyday lives. We use fractions for cooking, dividing things up equally, measuring, and finding discounts while shopping, etc. So far, students have been given opportunities to understand and make many connections among whole numbers. Now it is time to deepen their number sense by supporting students in understanding fractions, decimals, and percentages. In the same way, the knowledge of fractions helps develop an understanding of proportionality and ratio.

Furthermore, in secondary school, students use this foundation of fractions, proportionality, and ratios to understand mathematical relationships in algebra, linear relationships, trigonometry, and radian measurement. "The understanding of fractions is one of the most critical skills needed for college mathematics in both business and technology courses and as one of the main areas in which many students lacked that necessary understanding." (Orpwood, Schollen, Leek, Marinelli-Henriques & Assiri, 2012).

Therefore, it is imperative that students really understand fraction concepts. Providing students with hand-on-mind-on opportunities is crucial to develop a conceptual understanding of fractions. You can do this by allowing students to play with a variety of fraction models. There are three main faction models: Area Model, Linear Models, and Set Models. Please check out this Fraction Model Link for a better understanding of Fraction Models. Having students model the same problem across different models helps them make connections and strengthens their understanding of fractions. Basically, never use only one model. Also, never teach fractions by writing a fraction problem down (Symbolic Model) and expect students to grasp this abstract concept. Students must ALWAYS have lots of visual-hands-on experiences, using a variety of models.