South Carolina ETV

South Carolina ETV
1101 George Rogers Boulevard
Columbia, SC 29201-4761
Phone: 803-737-3545

Funtastic Fractions (Grades 2-3)

Master Teacher

Becky Zeigler

Time Allotment

Two one-hour class periods

Overview

Equal parts of one? Sounds like fractions! Students will participate in a series of hands-on, online, and multimedia activities to examine the relationships between fractions-less than, equal to, and greater than. After a paper folding activity, students will sort their squares according to equal parts-two parts, four parts, and eight parts. Students will then color parts to represent the fractions ½, ¼ and ? . Students will view a clip from Math Investigations , where they will learn about numerators and denominators. Following the video portion of the lesson, students will visit a web site to test their fraction skills and see how well they have mastered the concept of ½.

Subject Matter

Mathematics

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

Understand and represent the fractions ½, ¼, and ?.
Create models for ½, ¼, and ?.
Write the fractions that represent ½, ¼, ?.

South Carolina Curriculum Standards

(These Standards can be found online at www.myscschools.com/offices/cso.)

Grade 2

Numbers and Operations:

I.F. Understand and represent commonly used fractions, such as ¼, ?, and ½.

I.F.1. Write the fractions that represent ¼, ?, and ½ of a set or region.

I.F.2. Using models, order ¼, ?, and ½.

Grade 3

Numbers and Operations:

I.C. Develop understanding of fractions as parts of unit wholes, as parts of a collection, as locations on number lines, and as divisions of whole numbers.

I.C.1. Describe fractional parts of a unit or a group of objects (1/100, 1/10, 1/8, 1/6, 1/5, 1/4, 1/3, and ½)

Media Components

Video

Math Investigations, Part Two : "Fractions"

This episode focuses on the math concept of fractions as children eat pizza.

To access this video segment, log on to your account at ETV's Streamline SC Web site ( http://etv.streamlinesc.org ). In the search box, by keyword type Math Investigations , Part Two. Click on Math Investigations, Part Two . Scroll down to "Fractions" and download the video clip to your computer desktop and preview it. The segment runs 3 minutes and 58 seconds.

( Note to Teacher : If you don't have an account with ETV's Streamline SC, check with your media specialist or Instructional Technologist about signing up for your own account.)

Web Site

Cyberchase site at http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/fractions/index.html

This brain teasing activity challenges children to find 13 ways to divide a square in half.

Materials

Read Aloud Book Give Me Half! by Stuart J. Murphy and illustrated by G. Brian Karas (HarperCollins Publishers )
12 (8 ? x8 ? ) sheets of paper per child
Geoboards (one per child)
Rubberbands (10 per child)
Chart paper
Markers/colored pencils/crayons

Equipment

Computer with internet access
TV
LCD projector

Prep for Teachers

Prior to teaching this lesson, bookmark the Web site used in the lesson on each computer. Also, load in any necessary plug-ins like Shockwave, available at ( www.macromedia.com , or Windows Media Player, available at the Microsoft.com Web site ( http://www.microsoft.co/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e0175119-9a5b-44c3-b1de-9b2a9aa6cff6&DisplayLang=en ).
Cut pieces of paper into 8?x 8? squares.
Place students in small groups of 2-4.
Get geoboards and rubberbands for each child.
Get chart paper, tape and markers

When using media, provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction , a specific task to complete and/or information to identify during or after viewing of video segments, Web sites, or other multimedia elements.

Introductory Activity

Step 1: Ask the students what the word equal means. (Accept answers like same, fair , etc.) Ask for a show of hands of those that like pizza. (Pause as children raise hands) Tell the students you are going to read Give Me Half!, a book about two children arguing over a pizza, juice, some cupcakes, and cookies. As a Focus for Media Interaction, tell the students they need to determine equal parts of the pizza. Begin reading the book. Ask questions throughout the story, such as "What happens when you share food with another person?" (you get less, even amounts ) Tell the children to think about ways to cut food if it is to be shared fairly.

Step 2: Give each child 12 pieces of square (8 ? x 8 ? ) paper. Tell the children to think of the paper as a piece of cake. Ask each child to fold one of his or her squares into equal parts. Ask, "Is there more than one way to do this" ( yes no ) Instruct the students to compare squares. Ask two children to model the two ways to divide their paper in half while you create examples of the models and tape them on chart paper. See examples below:

Instruct students to fold other squares into four equal parts and to compare with group members. Ask for volunteers to model the three methods for dividing a square into four parts while you create examples of the models and tape them on the chart paper. See models below:

Instruct the students to fold some of the remaining squares into eight equal parts. Ask for volunteers to model the three methods for dividing a square into eight equal parts while you create examples of the models and tape them on the chart paper. See models below:

Instruct students to sort their paper squares into groups according to the number of pieces each square has.

Step 3: Direct student's attention to the models on the chart paper. Tell students that you want them to think of each square as one whole and each part as half of one. The fraction names one of the equal parts. Write the fraction ½ beside the models that represent ½. Write the word numerator on the chart paper and say and write the numerator is the top number of a fraction that counts the parts . Write the word denominator on the chart paper and say and write the denominator is the bottom number of a fraction that tells how many total pieces are in the group .

Instruct students to color in one of the equal parts while you color in one of the equal parts from the paper squares on the chart paper.

Next color the ¼ model on the chart paper and have the students color in ¼ from the paper squares. Tell them that ¼ is known as a quarter. Write the fraction ¼ beside the model that represents ¼ on the chart paper. Ask which numeral is the numerator ( one ) and which numeral is the denominator ( 4).

Color ? of the model on the chart paper and have the children color in ? from the paper squares. Write the fraction beside the model that represents ? on the chart paper. Ask which numeral is the numerator ( one) and which numeral is the denominator ( eight ). Ask what the numerator is ( the top number of a fraction that counts the parts ). Ask what the denominator is ( the bottom number of a fraction that tells how many total pieces are in the group ).

Learning Activity

Step 1 : Explain to your students that they will be examining the concept of fractions even further by watching a video clip from StreamlineSC . Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction , asking your students to determine the fraction parts as the children eat the pizza. PLAY the Math Investigation : "Fraction" clip. PAUSE clip after the little girl takes the first piece of pizza to check for student comprehension. ( The little girl is eating ¼ of the pizza .) PLAY the clip and PAUSE after the little girl takes the third piece of pizza to check for student comprehension. ( The little girl has eaten 3/4 of the pizza ) Press play and watch them remaining part of the clip.

Culminating Activity

Step 1: Tell your students that they will now have the opportunity to challenge their brains. Give them a Focus for Media Interaction by telling them they should find 13 ways to make ½. Have your students go to Cyberchase ( http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/fractions/index.htmlnto ) to play the game.

Step 2: Tell your students when they finish the computer game to get one geoboard and ten rubber bands to make different shapes and then divide into equal pieces.

Cross-Curricular Extensions

Language Arts: Make fraction books and write a number story to represent each picture. Write a recipe for a snack using the following ingredients: pretzels, peanuts, M&M's, cheese its, and Chex cereal. Students must use a measuring cup to measure ½, ?, ¼, and ? of the ingredients and then make a snack according to their recipe. After eating the snack, students can create a name for the snack and write an advertisement describing the snack.

Health: Research the basic food groups to see the recommended amounts needed each day. Compare the amounts to student's daily eating habits.

Art : Create "Fraction Collages" using pictures from magazines, newspapers, etc. to show how fractions are all around us.

Community Connections

Host a Career Day and invite a pharmacist, banker, chef, police officer, etc. to your classroom to talk about how they use fractions in their jobs.