The students are gearing up for dividing fractions this year
in 6th grade! Due to the new
Common Core standards, it is expected that by now the students are ready to hit
the ground running with prior fraction knowledge that will allow them to tackle
the more difficult process of dividing fractions. We will begin this operation next week, so in
preparation for the challenge, I decided to do a quick refresher on fractions. I created a SMARTBoard game activity for the
kiddos to play today…a little Friday fraction fun if you will!
I broke the kids up into groups and provided them each with
a dry erase board and marker. Then, briefly
discussed what it means to simplify a fraction, what equivalent fractions are
and how we can create them. We also
talked about how to add and subtract fractions with common and uncommon
denominators, and how to convert mixed numbers and improper fractions. In a nutshell, we did it all!
I used the game spinner wheel available on SMART Notebook to
get started. On the spinner board was
the name of a different fraction land the children would need to visit. Once in that land, various hidden fraction problems
would be revealed by tapping on the screen. Check out the four fraction lands!
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| In Simplify Station we worked to make our fractions small because we learned small fractions are easier to work with. |
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| In Mixed Number Mania things were looking crazy!! We needed to simplify and also convert between mixed and improper fractions. Phew! It was hard work. |
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| In Equivalent Land, we needed to know which operation to use in order to make our equivalent fractions either bigger or smaller. |
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| We had to be careful in the Addition and Subtraction Arena! Those uncommon denominators can be tricky! Our answers weren't correct until they were simplified. |
Each team worked together computing the problem and taking turns
as the scribe. When time was up, a group
was selected to present their answer. The
group with the correct answer was responsible for “teaching” their peers how to
compute correctly. For those answers
that were incorrect, it was the class’ job to discover why that answer was incorrect.
It was a “whole” bunch of fun!!
Happy Friday!
Ms. Vince
Ms. Vince
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