Tasks to Uncover Students’ Thinking About Fractions

The following ten tasks are in a suggested order for your use with students. However, you may choose to adjust the sequence according to your preferences and/or student need (e.g., if a student is stuck on a task, or is unable to complete it, move on to the next one). You may also choose to come up with some of your own as you become more comfortable with the process.

Documenting Student Thinking (Individual and Small Group)

We understand that teachers work in different settings and will use the tasks in different ways. For example, some teachers may pose the tasks to individual students, while others may work with small groups of several students at one time. For that reason, we have provided several sample Teacher Noticing Guides for the tasks. The first guide is intended for working one-on-one with a single student on a single task. The second guide is intended for working one-on-one with a single student across multiple tasks. The third guide is intended for working with a small group of students on a single task. You should pick the tool that you find best aligns with how you plan to use the tasks (or feel free to create your own version).