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This past week, my first grade class learned about fractions! I started out with 1/2, 1/3, and 1/4 using the language “one OUT OF two pieces,” and so on. This seemed to work best for introducing the concept, but as the week progressed I wanted my students to also use the word versions– one half, one third, and one fourth.
To help with this, I gathered my students on our classroom carpet and held a mini-math talk to go over the various ways to talk about a fraction. Then, I popped these fraction puzzles under our document camera to visually show my kiddos that 1/3, one out of three, and one third were all describing the same amount!
Prep
To get these fraction puzzles prepped, I printed them out onto Astrobrights Paper. I went ahead and printed two of each so that I could have a mini math center and put a set on our math board as a visual reminder!
Then, I ran them through my personal laminator which I’m somewhat obsessed with, grabbed my scissors and cut them out!
After prepping two sets, I threw them into gallon sized baggies, labeled the outside of each bag as “Fractions” and they were ready to go!
Using Them
There are a few ways you could use these fraction puzzles:
- Students could put all of the pieces together as a mini math center.
- You could post them on your board or in your classroom as a visual.
- Students could cut their own set out and keep them in a math toolkit.
- Students could try to replicate them by making “pizzas” with Play-Doh and cutting them into fraction pieces.
- and MORE!
Let me know in the comments what you think of this simple and concrete math resource– I’d love to hear from you! Happy teaching!
