Fraction Decimal Percent Google Slides Digital Assignment

 Are you are trying to figure out virtual learning and face-to-face learning at the same time? Is your school doing just virtual learning? No matter what your situations, the 2020-2021 school year will be one to remember. The first few weeks of school have been exhausting and overwhelming. 

I want to do what I can to help. I wish I could do more! 

This resource has students look at models and name the fraction, decimal, and percent modeled. 

Click here to download to the Free Activity

Fraction Decimal Percent--Equivalent Numbers Practice Freebies

I feel like it takes students all school year and then some to remember how to convert between fractions, decimals and percents.

In Texas, we start with generating equivalent numbers in 6th grade: the time when some teachers and students think math manipulatives and models are no longer needed. I strongly disagree. I struggled with math in school (which I believe is what makes me love teaching math now) and I don't ever remember working with math manipulatives or math models. No fraction models, algebra tiles, cuisenaire rods, etc. When I started teaching and understood the models myself, I understood the concepts so much better. The first time I saw dividing fractions modeled with cuisenaire rodes in grad school, I was blown away!

All this to say, don't think 6th graders (or older) are too old for models and manipulatives. Some students may not need them and other will. But don't make that call for them.

When it comes to generating equivalent forms of fractions, decimals, and percents, students have a hard time understanding that the numbers really are equivalent. They are different ways to tell the same story. So I always start with models.

At this point students have worked with fractions and decimals and have probably heard to percents, but don't understand what they are. I start with a mini presentation to get the conversation going about what percents are. (Click the link to make a copy to your Google Drive)

And we practice. Over and over and over again. I use notebook pages like this that students can refer to as they practice.

Practice starts simple. I write fraction, decimals, and percent on index cards, pull students to work in small group, give them so dry erase markers and start converting. They work the problems on the small group table and I get to see where students are running into problems.

Fraction Decimal and Percent conversion is a skill that students revisit all year long, so I need lots of different ways to keep students practicing. Download this sheet here  for more practice. 

Other Fraction, Decimal, Percent Resources

 

Valentine Activities--Ways to use Matching in Math

I haven't ever done holiday themed activities in my classroom before this year. For Thanksgiving I did a turkey color by number, for Christmas I did a few others. The activities were not time wasters, or busy work--they reviewed previous skills that needed reviewing. The students liked it. It was different than normal--so I made some things for Valentine's Day. 

Coming back from Christmas break means students forget what they know. 

Integer Operations is something that they know but need reviewing. 

On our benchmark math test in December--making equivalent forms of benchmark fractions, decimals and percents was one of the lowest performing TEKS for my students. So they need some practice with this too. 

Go here for the Fraction, Decimal, Percent Matching--It is FREE right now. 

Go here for the Integer Operations Matching

I am going to use these matching activities in 3 ways. 

1. The students just match them. Turn all the heart pieces face up and find matches. 

2. Play a memory game. Turn all the heart pieces face down and find matches by turning 2 cards over at a time--I will reduce the number of cards I give the students so they aren't spending forever finding a match

3. Play go fish. Each student will get a 7 cards and then ask their group mates for matches. If they get -25+26=, then they will ask their group mates "Who has 1?

Freddy Fractions

Freddy Fraction is a FREE app that uses equivalent fractions and decimals and percents. 

Students have to get the bee to the honey pot by dragging the bee to the fraction next to them that is equivalent to the decimal in the top right corner. In this case, the decimal is .88 and the equivalent fraction is 7/8. One downfall of this game is it rounds decimals to the hundreths. So while my students know that 7/8 is equivalent to 0.875, this game rounds that decimal. 

I like that the app doesn't just use the simplified fraction and uses equivalent fractions as well. 

As the game progresses, percents are added and the path to the honey pot gets longer. 

Thinking Blocks

Here are FOUR! free apps that require students to use strip diagrams (bar models) to solve problems. Each app has a different focus, addition, fractions, ratios, or multiplication. These are also available on the Math Playground Website. 

Your students might need some coaching on how to use a bar diagram. strip diagrams are a helpful way to see the relationship between quantities. I wish that I had bee shown how to use strip diagrams in school. Especially for ratios. 

Each app has different levels that get progressively more difficult and use different types of situations. 

The students are given feedback as they place each part of the strip diagram. If they get it wrong at first, they are prompted with question to think about to help them. 

Not every student loves this app, but it is helpful for them to practice making bar diagrams to model situations. 

Multiplying Fractions with Models

My students have a difficult time interpreting fraction word problems. And I do not blame them. I have a difficult time interpreting fraction word problems when it involves multiplication and division.

To help them practice, we draw pictures and models.

We start our lesson with folding patty paper. The paper that is between hamburger patties. It is a square and thin. We divide the paper as it says, shade in the fractional parts in different colors, and then where the colors overlap is your answer. (I'll be recording a video showing the process later.)

This was another teacher's patty paper. I like how she identified the parts of the fractions with the sections. 

For multiplying fractions, I also pull the fractions we are multiplying from word problems. I want students to connect the process with some context so it is not brand new to them. 

I created this notes page that I am looking for some feedback on. I've already taught this lesson this year and combined some different elements to fit on one notebook page. I hope to use this guided math page next year, and maybe even later in the year as we review for the state test. 

It is free on Teachers Pay Teacher right now. If you download it and use it, please let me know what you think. 

Dividing Fractions

When I am in doubt about what I want my notes to look like in the student's ISN, I look for anchor charts. 

This page was after we worked through models and then moved into the algorithm. I saw the anchor chart on Teaching with a Mountain View. And adapted it to fit what I wanted for students. 

I asked students to chose two colors to take notes in (mostly a pencil and a red pen) so they could show the changes in each step they made. It looks like a lot to write down, but my students were excited to write in two colors. It's the little things.