Teaching fractions to third graders used to terrify me. Fractions are a hard math concept for a 9 year old. In fact, many adults have trouble with them.
Throughout my years of teaching, I have learned to be more thorough with my fraction instruction. I have learned to go slow and help my students understand fractions.
I use many different math activities to help my students understand fraction concepts. It is important that my math class is more than just a worksheet each day. I try to plan instruction that includes fun activities to help my students think and grow.
In this post I will highlight several fraction activities that have worked well with my third grade students.
Fraction Number Talks
This is my favorite way to start my math class everyday. I use number talks to give students a chance to talk about math concepts. To do this, I display a problem on the board. Students use a small white board, their desks, or a math journal page to solve the problem.
I allow students to share their solution with partners, or with our class. This gets my students talking. But, this talk is purposeful. By talking about their math, students are gaining a deeper understanding of the concept we are learning.
During this time, my job is to listen to my students. I can quickly clear up misconceptions when I hear them. Offer assistance to students I see who are struggling. Or challenge students who have finished quickly. The possibilities are endless.
Each day I only display one number talk. I give students 5 minutes to work and we spend 5 more minutes discussing the problem. This is a quick, yet very effective, routine. Here are some examples of fraction number talks:
Interested in using these number talks in your math class? You can view them here.
Quiz, Quiz, Trade Review Game
This is a great way to review, but allow kids to get up out of their seats. During this game each student gets one card and they stand up around the room. Students partner up and take turns asking their partners to solve the problem on their card. After both partners have answered, students trade cards and move on to a new partner.
I love that this game holds students accountable. There is no sitting around and letting someone else do the work in this activity! Each student must answer questions to participate. This game can be played with any materials you have. You can cut apart any worksheet. If you are looking for a quiz, quiz, game specific for third grade fractions, you can find one here!
I find it is helpful to have the answers written on the backs of the cards. This ensures students know the correct answer and can help support their partner if they are having trouble.
Problem Solving Challenges
Problem solving challenges are a great way to push your students’ thinking. Students are given a task and they must support their answer with a picture and an explanation. These require students to reason and explain their thinking. Students can draw models, work out math problems, or use any other strategy to show their work. These can be done independently or with partners. This is a great way to see what students know and are able to do with their strategies.
Some great examples are comparing fractions, sharing an amount of something between an uneven amount of people, adding like denominators, etc. I use these challenges for fractions.
Test Prep and Accountability
To ensure my instruction has been successful, I assess my students on their fraction standards. To prepare them for the assessment, we complete several practice questions with partners. Once students have attempted each problem, I project them on the screen for the whole class. Then, we use the classflow digital voting platform to vote on the answers. You can read my post about class flow here.
You can use any fraction test prep that you have available. Students have their work on their desks and they can vote on the answers with their devices. I personally use this fraction review set.
Following a class review, students take an independent assessment. This will help me determine how well each student has mastered the standards. Fun classroom activities are NOT effective if my data does not support that my students are growing.
What are your favorite fraction activities?! I’d love to hear from you!
