how do you teach fractions to a second grader?

[A home for their hearts]

I have the ABeka fraction circle but I'm struggling with how to explain fractions to my second grader, any advice?

[Michele B]

I do not know what the fraction circle is, but I am using pattern blocks with Saxon 2. There is a hexagon, and the child is asked to see how many of the other shapes it takes to cover the hexagon, either 2, 3, or 6. I write a fraction or a mixed number down and dd7 represents that with the pattern blocks. Then she has to write a fraction or mixed number for the blocks I put down. This is an example of how Saxon "sneaks" in a concept. She has been "playing" with the pattern blocks off and on for awhile, so fractions were not introduced "cold."

[Country Girl]

Okay, this may sound silly, but to help my son understand them, I used a candy bar. I talk to him about sharing it with his brother or his brother and sister. If he doesn't have to share it, he has a whole. If he has to share it with his brother, the candy bar is split in two and his piece will be smaller. If he has to share it with his brother and sister, the candy bar will be split into three pieces and each piece will be even smaller. Food is a big motivator around here.

 

HTH!

[A home for their hearts]

I do not know what the fraction circle is, but I am using pattern blocks with Saxon 2. There is a hexagon, and the child is asked to see how many of the other shapes it takes to cover the hexagon, either 2, 3, or 6. I write a fraction or a mixed number down and dd7 represents that with the pattern blocks. Then she has to write a fraction or mixed number for the blocks I put down. This is an example of how Saxon "sneaks" in a concept. She has been "playing" with the pattern blocks off and on for awhile, so fractions were not introduced "cold."

 

I think I could probably do the same thing with the felt circles. I don't think it would matter what shape you are using? I'm a little lost though,what is a mixed number?

[Laura in OH]

Here's a great website with living books for math:

 

http://www.livingmath.net/ReadersbyConcept/tabid/268/Default.aspx

 

or another, smaller list here:

 

http://www.homeschoolmath.net/curriculum_reviews/math_readers.php

 

[Nestof3]

Hershey's bars are great because they already have marks which make them easily cut into fractions.

 

I find 1/2 is a great starting place because we use that word a lot.

 

A 2nd grader typically only needs to know 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/8, 1/10 (but really the concept is the same regardless).

 

I find the fraction circles to be great because each one is color-coded, and each one fits inside of the little case.

 

You just start with the whole and say it's a whole pie. Then you take the two pieces and explain that if you cut the pie in "half" you would have two halves. Each half would be one half.

 

You do the same thing with the others.

 

There are lots of worksheets where your child is told to color one-third of the pie, or one-fourth is colored and your child has to write how much is colored. These are good review and a good way to make sure she is understanding.

 

For thirds, fourths, eighths and tenths, just keep reminding her that when you cut a pie into three parts you get thirds (three - thirds), and when you cut a pie into four parts you get fourths (four - fourths).

 

You can also take a rectangular piece of paper and cut it into thirds. And so on.

[Beth in Central TX]

No, that would work too. We have a fun book called Pizza Counting that teaches fractions by cutting up pizzas with different sized slices, then it asks you which one would you prefer. My boys could identify with that lesson.

[Nestof3]

I'm a little lost though,what is a mixed number?

 

An improper fraction is, for example, 4/3; the same number written as a "mixed number" would be 1 1/3.

[Daisy]

Bathtub, measure cups.

 

How many 1/4 cup of water to fill the 1 cup measure?

How many 1/2 cup of water to fill the 1 cup measure?

 

Etc. Oh, my kids enjoyed doing this in the sandbox also.

[A home for their hearts]

:hurray:

 

Now why didn't I think of them? Probably because although I like math, I'm afraid to teach it. Probably because I'm dyslexic and I don't want to accidentally confuse my kids!

[Carol in Cal.]

They have sets for fractions, decimals, and percents.

 

When I introduced fractions to DD, I gave her the fraction blocks and asked her to play with them for 10 minutes and figure out 3 things she didn't know before when she did so. So she would come back and show me that 2/4 equalled 1/2 or something like that, and we would talk about it. I told her that the bottom number tells how many parts the whole was cut into, and the top number tells us how many of those chunks we have.

 

I was glad later than I also bought the decimal and percent blocks, as they match the fraction ones in color and size. So equivalency among the different metrics was easier to convey in a concrete way.

[Mrs Mungo]

I use slices of pizza as examples most often.

 

Mixed number are number that include a whole number and a fraction. So 1 pizza plus 1/2 a pizza. Something concrete just seems to help them understand. Even if I'm just drawing a circle on the white board if I call it a "pizza" instead of a circle they will grasp that if they eat 3 slices out of a pizza with 6 slices they've eaten half the pizza. So two pizzas - 3/6= 2 - 1/2= 1 1/2.

[Uccnorsworth]

I have daily conversations as we cut anything up for snacks. Here is an example:

Me: "Are you ready for your snack?"

DS: "Yes, I am starving!"

Me: "What would you like?"

DS: "How about an apple?"

Me: "That sounds ok . . . (taking apple out of fridge)"

DS: "Aw, Mom . . . only one?"

Me: "Yes . . . we are going to make two pieces out of one apple"

DS: "How is that?"

Me: "(cutting apple in half and holding one piece in each hand) That is how . . . now, here is one piece of two equal pieces. We write that like this . . . 1 (say piece of as you write the slash) 2 (say pieces). How many pieces like this do you need to make 1 whole apple?"

DS: "I don't know . . ."

Me: "(putting the pieces back together again) We need two. One piece of two and another piece of two makes a whole."

 

Go around the house doing this with other slices . . . then, begin to show them that 2 pieces of four is the same size as 1 piece of two. Simple!

[Gretchen in NJ]

I have also used food. It worked better for us than the blocks. Our story was that my daughter was having a pizza party. We would divide the pizza depending on how many friends we were inviting to our party. She learned that the more friends she invited the smaller each slice of pizza became.

 

She really responded to the party planning part.

 

Gretchen

[Suzannah]

A friend gave me the book Eating Fractions. She said it really helped her kids.

 

I don't have any specific memories of it except that we did read it a few times. We also have a felt board set and the pattern block we used ith Saxon Math and we talked about it when it cae up as we went about our day. When DS began adding and subtracting fractions he handled it pretty easily.

 

But now I think I should pull it out again for DD. She likes to help me in the kitchen but I'm not sure that she completely understands all of the fractions we encounter.