Comparing Fractions Using Models

Fractions are one of the toughest things I teach each year. They either get it or they don't. This year, I pepped up my routine by adding a few things.

Some concepts have me a little bumbuzzled. How best to teach the "Common Core" way yet stretch the lesson for my high achievers. Especially when it comes to simplifying fractions and finding equivalent fractions. Enter my math guru...Math Teacher's Corner on Facebook. It seems I spend more time on Facebook looking at teacher stuff than seeing what my friends are up to these days. She posted a well timed link to Learn Zillion. What a gift! Not only can you assign videos for your students to watch.....remediation, folks, but you can also get a peak into the next standard. I feel like the 3rd grade standards don't give the right attention to simplifying in the same way we are expected for them to perform on Topic tests and the BIG tests each spring. Raise your hand if you taught your kids the right way to do simplifying or how to find equivalent fractions only see them using their fingers to compare......ME! Even my bright ones! I found this video using the identity property BY NAME and had an A-ha moment. I'll admit to knowing what you're supposed to do by not really knowing why. But weren't we all taught procedures?
I'd love to show you the actual video, but it seems that Learn Zillion has taken the video off to update. Grrrr. Here's link for future reference though! Be sure to check the other useful videos.

Generating Equivalent Fractions Using Identity Property

To tie it all together, I needed to get my creative juices going. It seems I only have time about once a month to make something cute and useful. Perfect time for a........

I fell in love with these cute bingo cards made by the Math Coach's Corner on TPT and decided to buy the clip art and make something to go with it.

They are printed and ready to be laminated. Yeah! What a great activity for get my kids up and moving during this cooooooold winter! I made them so that they will not only spend time looking for "like denominators" or "like numerators" but to really see the shapes, too. My follow-up with be comparing without the visual model and having them create one to "prove it". I threw in a few equivalent fractions so that they can practice using the identity property to prove it. That skill will be very useful on our next STAR test and hopefully on the ACT Aspire.

You can find them in my TPT store now!