fraction help

[watching4him]

Mt youngest dd has trouble understanding fractions, she doesn't understand that 1/3 is larger than 1/4, and so on. She is becoming so upset that she says that she is stupid or dumb because she can't get it. Do any of you home schooling moms have any ideas? We have already gotten out the measuring cups & spoons to try and help her a visual clue. But that even doesn't seem to help, any & all help would be greatly appreciated. Forgot to post that she is in the fourth grade at school.

[JPE]

take a slice of bread and cut it into 2 equal parts

take another slice and cut it into 3 equal parts

take another and cut it into 4 equal parts

that will help her understand what the denominator represents

then ask her which should be a larger piece, 1/2 or 1/100 based on what you just showed her, and ask her to explain to you why

that might help her visualize what it means

:idunno

[PSK]

take a slice of bread and cut it into 2 equal parts

take another slice and cut it into 3 equal parts

take another and cut it into 4 equal parts

that will help her understand what the denominator represents

then ask her which should be a larger piece, 1/2 or 1/100 based on what you just showed her, and ask her to explain to you why

that might help her visualize what it means

:idunno

Wow you should have been my teacher!!

[NewWorldOrder]

I have a fourth grader too, and it can be a tough age, but they all seem to be tough ages at some point. :rolleyes One thing I DO NOT allow in our house is putting themselves down. She absolutely is not allowed to do that, because it doesn't accomplish anything.

JPE's idea with the bread slices is a good idea. You can also use a piece of paper. If you use paper, use one that is for 1/3 and one for 1/4 but make sure they're the same size. Cut the paper into thirds and have her write 1/3 on each piece and then do the same with the paper for 1/4. Show her that there are three parts (denominator) and when we take out one of the parts (numerator) we have removed 1/3, two parts is 2/3 and three parts is 3/3 or 1 whole. Then show her that 3/3 and 4/4 are the same but when we separate them into more parts the parts are smaller.

[MidnightCry]

My daughter was struggling in fractions this year (we were using Math-U-See) and I got the Key to Fractions (by Key Curriculum Press) booklets instead. They're simple and inexpensive and did the trick for her.

[Lucy]

take a slice of bread and cut it into 2 equal parts

take another slice and cut it into 3 equal parts

take another and cut it into 4 equal parts

that will help her understand what the denominator represents

then ask her which should be a larger piece, 1/2 or 1/100 based on what you just showed her, and ask her to explain to you why

that might help her visualize what it means

:idunno

We used pizzas. I would ask the child if they would rather have 1/2 or
2/4ths?? Make up your own numbers to illustrate the different combos. The denominator represents how many TOTAL pieces there will be and the numerator represents how many pieces might be taken. It was fun and easy to understand-then we ate it! :yeah

[Waratah]

I use RightStart math from the AL abacus site and they have a magnet set of fractions. You could easily make your own. My son found it really helpful!

Here is the link...

http://www.activitiesforlearning.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=115

[watching4him]

Thank you to all posted an answer to my question.

[Wally]

this reminds me of calculus where when the denominator approached infinity you are in essance dividing by zero.... ok too deep...


We used LEGOs where bricks represented the fractional part.

establish a 1 plate. (The large flat pieces)

Then label the smaller bricks by how many it takes to fill the plate. (use a labeled sort tray or icecube tray)

4 1/4 bricks to fill the 1 plate 10 1/10 bricks to fill the 1 plate etc.....


Money -change is a useful tool but the coin sizes don't help. The LEGOS worked better.

[lisaann]

We have this game that we play a lot. http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Resources-Auntie-Pastas-Fraction/dp/B00004TDLF

edit to add:
I have actual plastic manipulatives that look just like the ones on this website. I wish I knew where to tell you to get them but the name is gone on the box. This website looks like a good place to play with them though. I wonder if you could print it out to use. :idunno
http://www.abcya.com/fraction_tiles.htm

Edit to add again :lol2 :
I found something very similar for cheap!
http://www.eaieducation.com/531080.html