Student learning is no accident!
A while back I took stock of what we were doing as a math department to improve kids’ math fluency. It seemed that every year we had a chunk of kids who came up to sixth grade with amazing fact fluency. We had another chunk who fought with basic addition and multiplication much like struggling readers fought with multisyllabic words…. Read More
If you’re thinking about fractions, you might be a 5th grade teacher… Thanks to the Common Core State Standards, fifth grade now throws the wildest fraction party on the block! I taught 6th grade math back when that was fraction central, and I learned 3 key things along the way. They have been just applicable in the 5th grade classrooms… Read More
“The ones that are doing the talking are doing the learning.” I know that. But, no matter how many times I say it, the impact on student learning in front of me is profound and somehow surprising. There is no example stronger than that of talking about fractions in math class. I’ve spent most of my career spending part of… Read More
We have moved on to subtraction with renaming (2.NBT.7). You might call this regrouping… but really- if we think literally about what’s happening- we’re also giving the values new names! 50+10 is a different name for 60. So, renaming, regrouping… you know what we’re doing! What’s Working I’ve been doing a lot of this work with students in small groups…. Read More
“The ones who are doing the talking are doing the learning”
Talking About Fractions in Math Class • Write Solutions
There is no example stronger than that of talking about fractions in math class.I'm not wasting kids' time anymore, and I've prioritizing their conceptual learning over following procedures. They're doing the work themselves- and the room is a buzz of learning!Don’t ditch the concrete!
3 Keys to Teaching Fractions • Write Solutions
In the era of "new math," upper elementary teachers are tasked with teaching fractions. Here are three keys to teaching fractions in fourth grade, fifth grade or sixth grade.Conceptual understanding is more valuable that practicing a procedure EVERY SINGLE TIME. We’re starting the {practically} eternity long fraction study that IS fifth grade😂😂😂
I’ve been teaching fractions since it was a sixth grade thing- and I had to step back at least once a year then- to remind myself that some kids are just not developmentally ready for a certain concept. When they are, I will know. There’s no sense in teaching kids a bunch of procedures that mean nothing to them, just so that they arrive at an accurate answer.
Today, I had an aha moment when hardly anyone in one class could talk to me about WHY we need common denominators when we add or subtract fractions.
We need to back up. We need manipulatives in hand. We need to PROVE that 1/2, 2/4 and 3/6 are equivalent. You need to be SURE the value isn’t changing, just the name- and the size of the parts of the whole.
We grabbed fraction strips today for the first time this year. They made a difference. Stay tuned. I’ll post some videos and practice problems that help us prove that it makes sense to call 2/3 a name like 6/9- and we’ll do it with the strips.
They’ll get it. Not all of the same day- and DEFINITELY not in the same way. But they’ll get it and they’ll be able to TALK about it.
What are you doing to build fraction sense? We played Fraction Top It (War) in small group today... and I saw some lightbulbs get bright!! 💡💡💡
We’re establishing “15 minutes of alone time in our rooms” every day after school to unplug and decompress. Read a book, Stare at the wall, close your eyes. I’m hoping it resets everyone ❤️
