Flying High With Fractions

Flying High With Fractions

Fractions are one of the most difficult concepts for math students to understand, yet it is one of the most important topics in third grade. Studies have shown that a strong understanding of fractions at an early age is a clear indication of predicting success in algebra and overall math achievement. Fractions are used in all areas of everyday life, from cooking to building to data analysis. Aside from fractions being numbers, I feel it is important for my third graders to have a strong understanding that fractions are part of a number line.

Every week, third graders complete a craft project combined with some sort of academic task. Since these students spent part of their kindergarten and first-grade years at home due to COVID, I have noticed that many of them lack the fine motor skills typically developed in the earlier grades.

Last week, students created colorful kites utilizing their knowledge of fractions. They were given the opportunity to choose any fraction they felt comfortable with and created kites to display the fraction in various ways. They first divided the kite into four equal parts. They wrote their fraction in one portion and then drew a representation of the fraction in another portion. They also depicted the fraction on a number line, as well as in word form.

To expand the challenge, I asked the students to write fractions that were larger and smaller than the specified fraction and wrote those on the tail of the kite. This activity proved to be beneficial in securing their understanding of fractions in both pictorial and number line forms.

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