Introduction
Fractions are hard, plain and simple! Many of my students fear working with fractions. I hear the moans and groans and see the look of fear when I write on our class agenda that we will be studying fractions. Not only are they fearful, but they have zero memory of what they have learned about fractions in previous years. I hear the "we never learned that" or "I don't remember seeing that". Sound familiar? I KNOW they have been taught about fractions because it is part of our state and district objectives in the lower grade levels. Through reading the research on fractions, I found that this was a common theme. Fractions (rational numbers) are complex; however, they are important for students to understand. Up until now I have focused too much on the procedural way of teaching fractions. My students do not understand why fractions work. They are lacking in the conceptual view of fractions. I have come to realize that I need to focus first on the conceptual view of fractions and then I can proceed to procedural skills. I want my students to leave my class having an understanding of fractions and not just knowing how to work the problem. My goal is to help my students understand fractions are actual numbers and to be able to locate any fraction on a number line as well as being able to perform basic math operations with ease.
I teach fourth grade in a self-contained class, usually around 25 students. Eisenhower International Elementary is a lottery school in the Tulsa Public School district. We are a language immersion school where our students begin learning in a target language of either Spanish or French beginning in Kindergarten. The majority of the students are native English speakers. Teachers instruct students on state and district objectives in either Spanish or French through fifth grade. English Reading and Language Arts are not introduced until the spring semester of second grade. Mathematics instruction is primarily in the target language. In third grade, students are introduced to English vocabulary of mathematics due to state testing.
Our student population is one that is diverse across economic and ethnic backgrounds. However, the majority of the student population is Caucasian and from the middle class. I have on average two to three students yearly in my class that are on an Instructional Educational Plan due to some diagnosed learning disability. Because we only have two third grade classes, two fourth grade classes, and two fifth grade classes, teachers are able to collaborate to determine the needs of our students. We are able to work closely and quickly for intervention. Each class is assigned a teacher paraprofessional. The teacher paraprofessional serves as an extra resource in our classrooms for added instruction in language acquisition, as well as an extra support for remedial and one on one instruction when needed. Teachers, staff, and parents have high expectations for student learning. Eisenhower is known as receiving yearly top state test scores in the state of Oklahoma. Excellence in Education is a priority for our school community. We were designated a National Blue Ribbon School in 2013.
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