KS2 Numeracy - Just a Fraction
A successful method of teaching fractions to primary children is vividly captured in Just a Fraction. This programme follows a group of seven-year-old pupils at Janvrin School in Jersey.
The technique used is visualisation. For this only the simplest resources are needed: paper cups carefully cut into halves and quarters, cards representing different fractions - and two tables!
The children are invited to write down a maths "story" on a white board. Demonstrators drawn from the class then play out the maths story with paper cups.
The sum set is 1 1/4 + 3 - 2 1/4. So one whole cup, then one quarter-cup, are moved from the resources table to the maths table. As the story involves an addition, three more cups are taken to the maths table, then for a subtraction two and a quarter cups are taken from the maths table to the resources table. Next, the children add up the cups on the maths table to complete the story. They move on to see how cards containing the usual notation for a half and a quarter can be transported in the same way.
By the end of the lesson, some children understand the concept and can go from the concrete to the abstract, but still visualise the concrete when they are unsure of a calculation. The change of emphasis away from calculation is easy for any child to understand.
This programme demonstrates:
- How to introduce children to fractions using concrete representation (cups)
- How to move from the concrete to the symbolic (number cards)
- How to translate symoblic ability to abstract thought
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Facebookawelshlady on 31 January 2010
Hi, I used this practical maths activity with my nursery children (addition and subtraction to 10 not fractions!) They ...
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- Duration: 14:00 minutes
- Published: 20 June 2006
- Licence information for KS2 Numeracy - Just a Fraction
- Next showing on TV: 21:00 09 February 2010
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Comments
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Richard D mathematical ideas31 January 2010 - 15:50Hi,
I used this practical maths activity with my nursery children (addition and subtraction to 10 not fractions!) They quickly grasped the concepts of the maths table and resource table as well as the actions for add, take away and equals. It boosted maths in my nursery. Fantastic way to teach maths.
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Key stage 219 January 2009 - 23:53Hi,
I am teaching in Ireland and have 9 - 10 year olds. Just wondering if this is the same as Keystage 2?
Just love this site.
Carmel
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just a fraction27 October 2008 - 20:38What a great way of teaching fractions. It's brillliant how involved the children are in the whole process. I am going to share with my KS1 colleagues asap! Thank you
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fantastic practice, this is30 June 2008 - 07:11fantastic practice, this is a beautiful technique to teach fractions, i i use it in my maths fraction class thank you
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Just a fraction25 November 2007 - 15:06A fantastic way of teaching an often tricky topic. As I am having a maths observation soon and the lesson focuses on fractions, I shall definately be using this method!
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KS2 Just a fraction3 November 2007 - 21:21This has given me the confidence to teach an aspect of maths that has always proved tricky (for me and the children!) The idea seems so accessible when you see it in action. I'll definitely recommend this to fellow colleagues.
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Excellent pedagogy!28 October 2007 - 06:57This is amazing. I watched the video of the new teacher in the Jersey school being trained in this methadology. It certainly is in line with current 'best practice' in mathematics, and uses the "CRA" model
"CONCRETE > REPRESENTATIONAL (or pictorial) > ABSTRACT (or symbolic") model.
I love the actions for 'add' 'subtract' 'equals' and 'multiply' (Note to producers: I believe the 'kissing' idea is that you 'love it so much' that you want more - however, how is the idea conveyed when one multiplies by a fraction... i.e. 10 x 1/2 = 5 ?).
I like the cups idea.... I wonder how this could be extended to use with liquids or plastecine to fill the cups, or using materials other than cups to show the same ideas??
I would recommend that people watch the Maths in Hungary video, which can also be found on this website.
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KS2 Numeracy: Just a fraction25 October 2006 - 10:43What a fantastic method. I can't wait to try it out. Have used visualisation for teaching long and short but hadn't thought of using it for fractions.
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