Fractions Part 2: Constructing and Drawing

by C. Elkins, OK Math and Reading Lady

The standards (CCSS or any state) use varied verbs to describe what students are to do regarding fractions: form, compose, construct, model, partition, draw, decompose, share, identify,  read, write, describe, order, and compare. Satisfying these standards can often be accomplished through use of concrete methods (manipulatives) and pictorial models (drawings). Remember the best understanding of concepts usually follows the concrete, pictorial, abstract progression (CPA). In other words, “Let’s make it, draw it, and then use numbers to represent it.”

Through constructing and drawing, students will  be prepared for further work with fractions, and they begin to conceptualize the relationship between the size of denominators, the numerators, and the whole. Click here for a FREE copy of the pictures you will see below (3 page pdf).

Form / Compose / Construct / Model:  Use smaller shapes to form or compose larger shapes (which is also a geometry std. in KG and 1st). Put together fraction pieces or puzzles to make the whole shape (circle, rectangle, hexagon, etc.). Use fraction pieces to demonstrate understanding by constructing models of area, set, and length.

These pictures show different ways students can use manipulatives to form, compose, construct, and model fractional parts (pattern blocks, fraction circles, tangrams, linking cubes, color tiles, fraction bars, Cuisenaire rods, two-color counters):

Partition / Draw / Decompose / Share: Split larger shapes into smaller fractional parts (halves, thirds, fourths, etc.). Divide (fair share) objects into equal groups. Use models to decompose a fraction in more than one way. Represent fractions on a number line.

I enjoy teaching children how to partition common shapes into fractional parts – because it involves drawing. Too often, if I just tell them to divide a rectangle or circle into fourths or sixths, I get something like this: Continue reading