Fraction Anchor Chart Freebie and Hands-on Fractions
I’m here to share a fraction anchor chart freebie and a hands-on mini lesson idea I used with my math intervention students. When we started our unit on fractions and did our pre-assessments, I quickly learned that I have a small group of students who need quite a bit of intervention. Unfortunately, many of them lack basic fraction knowledge, including important vocabulary. So, I pulled this small group of students together and created this anchor chart with them.
We started by simply breaking down the definition of fractions. We discussed important vocabulary terms and the parts of a fraction.
After we worked together to create this anchor chart, we got out our notebooks and created different types of fraction models with pencil and paper. The more these students practiced, the better.
Students will use this anchor chart throughout our group meetings as a reference.
I also created a student version of this anchor chart as a reference when they are working on their own, or on practice problems at home.
Click HERE to grab this FREE anchor chart printable to use with your students.
Once I felt that students were mastering different ways to represent fractions on paper, I brought out the Play Dough to tap into some hands-on learning.
Students were asked to show each fraction representation using Play Dough. Yes, even big kids get excited about Play Dough! I absolutely love this intervention lesson because it requires no prep on my part, and students have an absolute blast “playing” with Play Dough. Plus, I love it for small groups. I gave a group of about five students this task, and while they were working, I was able to get up from my small group table and check in on some of my high kids. That can be tough when you’re sitting and constantly talking with those small groups!
First, we worked on representing fractions as part of a group.
Once students showed me they mastered this representation, we moved onto fraction circles and fraction bars. For both, we started by talking about numerators versus denominators. We discussed the vocabulary terms, and I made students show me the number of parts the fraction is broken into (denominator). I gave them plastic knives to make cut the whole into the correct number of part.
After our vocabulary discussion on denominators and numerators, students then used Play Dough to make the fractions.
Last, once I felt students were extremely comfortable with these three representations, I introduced fractions on a number line. I think these tend to be the most difficult for students, so I helped them out by creating the number lines myself. Once students feel more confident with this, I will have them create the number lines on their own.
