Aligned with CCSS

A fun, yummy way to introduce fractions http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/susanpowers-2210 MAKING FRACTIONS FUN!
©Susan Powers
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Fractions with Chocolate Bars and Colorful Sweets.
CCSS: Number and OperationsFractions. 3.NF.1

Funnest Teacher Award!

to effectively introduce the idea of fractions to students.
Objective---

Children will be able to use the academic language of equal parts, numerator and denominator together with half, twelfth, quarter etc. They will show their understanding of how one whole is split up into smaller fractions by dividing and sharing, using the cut outs and sorting, to help them. The children will draw pictures/diagrams of each part of the fraction, correctly identifying the fractions.
Materials • Jelly Beans or any other multicoloured sweets • A large chocolate bar with sections. (E.g.12 cubes = twelfths)

• Paper Chocolate bars with 1/12s or a fraction to match the chocolate bar Preparation Introduction- I begin with showing pictures I have prepared a variety of things that 8 year olds can relate to, that have been divided into fractions. E.g. birthday cake, pizza etc. There is an example below for your convenience. Activity 1. We begin by discussing observations with the focus on leading the vocabulary towards “cut up, divided, shared and perhaps even fractions.” This can be done whole class, turn and talk, pair and share etc. 2.Lead the children to see that the cake was one whole cake and now it is cut up into smaller pieces/fractions but still one whole cake. Each smaller piece is called a fraction. 3.I will then pass out a paper candy bar to everyone, which has 12 parts. (Since my chocolate bar has twelve parts.) 4.We talk about how a candy bar is the whole and they cut it in half so they see that 6 pieces=1 half. I model with a real candy bar.

5.We talk about them splitting this with a friend so they would have EQUAL PARTS. Then I tell them that 2 other friends come over so they have to split each half into equal parts again. As we do each split, I draw a picture of the fraction and label it with numbers, 1⁄2, 1⁄4. 6.Now I will introduce academic language of numerator and denominator, explaining how the denominator shows the fraction and the numerator tells us how many of that fraction. We then go back to our fractions and we identify the numerators and denominators. We practice naming numerators and denominators orally. 7.Once we have divided the candy bar into twelve pieces and I have shown them how we went from 1/2 to 1/12. I use magnetic fraction bars to show them briefly how 1/12 is much smaller than 1/2. 8.After several minutes of hands on practice with their paper bars and have enjoyed a real piece of chocolate bar, I then take small bags which I prepared earlier, of Skittles or Jelly Beans and pass them out to pairs or small groups of kids. (I divide the sweets in advance so that there is always an even number in each bag, so some groups may get 24, others 30, others 36, etc.). 9. I will model how to divide our candy into groups by color and then figure out which fraction of the different colors everyone has. For example,

if they have 20 sweets and 5 of them are red, I show them that 5/20 is red. 10. It is at this point that I will differentiate verbally by questioning those pupils who are more advanced with the concept to try to find the equivalent; such as 5/20 is the same as 1⁄4. 11. Reiterating our strategy of showing our work through pictures, diagrams etc., I model how to draw our fractions on paper with crayons, labeling them with number fractions and written words (1/4 or one quarter, five twentieths or 5/20) as we figure out each fraction.

We then eat our fractions!
12. As a final formative assessment or reflection, the kids are each given a sticky note and asked to write down three things that they feel they learned today about fractions. Differentiation Ideas:

• I have grouped the children into both mixed ability and ability groups for this activity. • At step 11 above, with ability groups, I would pull the more advanced kids and verbally question them about simplifying the fractions. There are photocopiable sheets to use with this group below. Complete as is appropriate for your class.

*Photocopiable chocolate bar below. Just add your own lines to show the fractions identical to the chocolate bar, which you use as a model. *

This has proven to be an entertaining, delicious and memorable introduction for my students to the world of fractions. Math can be so much fun!

Please submit any feedback to my E-mail. All feedback is appreciated in a bid to constantly improve my work.

Susanpowers09@yahoo.com

Thank you!

What is each fraction the chocolate bar has been divided into?

Can you simplify the following fractions?

What do these pictures of food all have in common?

Color a fraction of the gumballs and write the fraction beside each one.
Remember your numerator and denominator.

1. I colored 1/3 red and 2/3 blue.

2.

3.

4.