Often Less than 1, But it Doesn’t Fracture the Importance of Teaching Fractions

It is safe to say that fractions may be often over-looked. Early in their lives, students grasp the simple aspects of fractions; but as educator, we must illustrate to them that they have many functions. Quickly think about how many uses fractions have in our lives. They can represent ratios, measurements, area, volume and mass. With so many uses and applications, introducing students to fractions should be considered as one of the core operations that elementary students need in order to further their math learning later in life.

                Our textbook, Making Math Meaningful to Canadian Students , K-8 written by Marian Small,  does an unbelievable job at illustrating the various meanings fractions can present to students. It brings up the fact that eventually students must pull together the various “meanings of fractions” that a fractions are not just a number with a numerator and denominator, that they can represent part of a whole set, compare things ad be part of a continuous set.

                Students often start with learning very simple fractions, very often known as “unit fractions” that have a 1 as the denominator and any other number as the denominator. An example of a unit fracture can be seen in the image below. Unit fractions are always less than one. Fractions, like many aspects of math, have specific divisions and traits that stay constant no matter how complicated they may seem. These traits or definitions also include Proper fractions, characterized by still equaling less than 1, but have a number more than one at the numerator, e.g. 4/9 . There are also Improper Fractions, where the numerator I more than the denominator e.g.  8/6  or have a whole number and a proper fraction, e.g.  2 4/9 . Getting a grasp on the simple definitions and trait about fractions is the first step or students. It is the educator’s responsibility to build upon this, highlighting that fractions have many uses and exists everywhere. Like most math operations, more understanding about fractions is obtained with the use of manipulatives. 

JudeGRolfe., (February 13, 2013). A Unique, Unit Fraction. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2cWKwHm

                  One of the most common manipulatives used when teaching how fractions can work is egg cartons. Not only are students already prone to saying “half a dozen”, students can also be shown how often fractions are used during activities like baking and cooking. Manipulatives such as egg cartons, and Pattern Blocks (depicted in the picture below), can be used by students in order to visualize how fractions and change and are able to b compared and altered. Physically touching the objects allows students of all ages to develop deeper understanding.

Jimmie., (August 1, 2009). Pattern Block Math Manipulatives. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2dvvGye

Fractions can be simple, but they also can be very hard for students to grasp. Most of the errors that occur when dealing with fractions is when students start to add, subtract and multiply fractions. The use of manipulatives should not be limited to the younger grades as they are still useful when it comes to the more advanced operations of fraction operations. The list of what fractions can represent is almost endless, which is why teachers of math should see their lesson plans involving fractions as crucial classes because it can have a profound effect on their students ability to learn the topics that follows.