Models to Use with Fractions
Using math manipulatives has been shown to be very important for understanding mathematical concepts. The Rational Number project, states:
"There is no single manipulative aid that is "best" for all children and for all rational-number situations. A concrete model that is meaningful for one child in one situation may not be meaningful to another child in the same situation nor to the same child in a different situation. The goal is to identify manipulative activities using concrete materials whose structure fits the structure of the particular rational-number concept being taught." 9
Students coming into fourth grade have already been exposed to number set and group models. For this unit I will focus on using the Area model and the Linear Model as manipulatives to work with rational numbers. Students must be familiar with both models in my unit. It is always best to have more than one way to solve a problem! Students will be able to show addition, comparison, and multiplication of fractions using both the area model and linear model.
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