part 5: tips for introducing fractions to 3rd graders

Part 5: my final tip…(for now) of teaching fractions to third graders.

Start with 2 people sharing an odd number of objects.

For example, in your equal sharing stories, have 2 people sharing 5 cookies, or 2 people sharing 11 candy bars.

Kids naturally want to cut objects into halves, so starting with two people lends itself to halves.

Once kids have some experience sharing objects equally between two people, you can increase it to 4 people sharing cookies. For example, if 4 people are sharing 9 cookies, kids will start to notice that they can cut the extra cookie into four equal pieces to feed the four friends.

On the other hand, if you have 4 friends sharing 10 cookies, now students will start to discover equivalent fractions!! Some students might cut both extra cookies into four pieces and say each friend will get 2 fourths of a cookie while others might cut the two extra cookies into halves and say each friend will get 1 half of a cookie.

It is so cool what kids can discover through these equal sharing stories!