My kids can : making math accessible to all learners, K–5

grids so that they could easily maintain equal-size wholes and see the equal pieces.
The students worked in pairs to construct two different representations. For ex-
ample, Jhali made and Tara made , and they compared them. (See Figure 8–3.)
The students were becoming more confident in understanding the relation-
ships among unit and nonunit fractions of a whole. I knew that this was a long
process and that I must continue to review prior concepts while introducing new
concepts, all the while using a variety of representations and contexts. My next
goal was to help the students relate what they were doing on the geoboards and
rectangular grids to the pizza model they had been using for nonunit fractions.

Reflections

What evidence did I see that these students were beginning to understand fractions?
By the end of the fractions unit, most were solid with unit fractions. They could:

• create mental images based on the models and representations we are using


• compare three or more unit fractions

6

8

3

4

The Pieces Get Skinnier and Skinnier

Figure 8–2.

Figure 8–3.

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