Fractions Fun

    We began our fraction study by me posing a problem for the students to help me out. I told them I had my son and one of his friends after school and I needed to give them a snack. I told them I only have 1 poptart, 1 cookie, and 1 cheese stick. I asked how I could share them so they get an equal amount. Students helped me divide the snacks in half so that both kids got the same amount. Then we read Give Me Half!. We sorted pictures by whole and half. We came up with a definition for the words fraction and whole. Then students illustrated an example of whole. 

   
    We read Pizza Counting and reviewed what we learned about whole and half. Then students created their own pizzas. They left one pizza whole and labeled it whole; then they cut one pizza in half and labeled it half. We came up with a definition for half and students illustrated an example of half.

   
    We read What's Happening on the Farm?. Then we sorted farm pictures by whole and halves. We added the farm sort to a math station. Then students cut a cupcake in half.

    For teachers who are interested, these activities can be found in Fractions Learning Fun and Farm Learning Fun.

Fair Shares and Part Part Whole with Percy Penguin

    We read Mary Clare Likes to Share and discussed the examples of fair shares and part part whole in the story. Then rolled a die, counted out that many pieces of bubble gum, and then shared them between two students. We identified the parts and the whole and recorded on the whiteboard. Then we identified if it was a fair share or not.

    Then we learned the Percy Penguin sharing song. Students took turns drawing a fish from my "fishbowl" (blue plastic cup). Then students counted out that many fish and put at the top of their penguin mat. Then we sang the Percy Penguin sharing song as students shared the fish crackers between the two penguins. We identified the parts and the whole and if it was a fair share. Then students recorded on their recording sheet.

    Then of course we enjoyed our goldfish snack when our math lesson was over.

Farm

A slideshow design by Smilebox

Kite Symmetry

We read The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins. We created symmetrical kites. We also talked about how our kites were divided into equal parts.