Re-teach Your Kids Fractions!

I am a math person. I love math and it makes sense to me. For many of the students I have taught, that isn't the case.

Fractions seem to be particularly difficult for kids. I don't think fractions are hard, I think the way we teach fractions is the problem. Kids are taught a bunch of rules but most of the time they never learn why things work. Let's give our kids a better understanding of fractions so they can use logic instead of rules!

Here is a short and fun activity I was typing up for my math credential. It shows multiplication of fractions, it relates to the algorithm, and it's pretty. I love it!

Grab a couple small sheets of paper. Fold horizontally to make the size of one fraction ( thirds for example). Color the number of thirds you are using. Fold vertically for the other fraction size (fourths for example). Color the number of fourths you are using with a different color.

Now you just count the number of squares you made (12 in this example) and that tells you the size of the piece you have (twelfths). Count the number of double colored pieces you have (6 in my picture) and there is your answer. Six twelfths!

Cool huh? I kind of want to make a big paper quilt out of fraction multiplication pieces. Too bad little is so young!