Term 3 & Fractions

Term 3 has begun and I have not done much with the whole problem solving group thing because we have been playing around with fractions and while it is lots of fun, it is also time consuming, and the whole session just goes really, really quickly.
The children are loving using materials to explore fractions. Most sessions so far have been an introduction to fractions, and after I found out what the children already know, I realised that we had to take it right back to basics. We use the plastic fractions and fraction blocks to compare and order fractions. We have also used them to help us with decimals. We made our own fraction circles with compasses and two pieces of coloured card which can be spun around to show the size of easier fractions. The children really liked having their own fraction circles to manipulate and play with.
After comparing fractions, figuring out what the numerator and denominator actually mean, putting fractions in order, and discovering improper fractions, the children are now trying out some basic addition with fractions with the same denominator. We had a little bit of time looking at equivalent fractions too, so that will help when we get to some trickier adding a little further along in the term. The children are beginning to understand how important it is to know those basic facts, particularly division facts, and can now see why I nagged them to learn them! Fractions are easy if you know division facts.

The plastic fractions are awesome!

Yes, they are solving problems, even though it looks like they are just putting them all in order!