Mrs. Taylor’s first graders and Mrs. Waite’s first graders teamed up for a fun filled lesson about comparing fractions. This is a VERY hard skill for upper elementary students but the use of digital technology really helped these first graders understand the concept. We did a mini app smash using SchoolKit Math and YakIt.
First, we partnered the students up and let them play with the Fraction Kit within the SchoolKit Math app:
This provided a wonderful visual representation of fraction pieces. Next, we asked them to select six different fraction bars and arrange them in groups of two. They had to compare three different sets of fractions. After the fraction pieces were arranged in pairs (with a little space in between) the students looked at each fraction and drew in either the greater than sign or less than sign to make the expression make sense. I was amazed how easily these first graders were able to do this! The fraction bars were very helpful. Once the three comparing signs were added, students took a screenshot of their screen. We imported this into the app, YakIt, and made the fraction pieces talk. Check it out:
2015-04-29 11.46.01 from Julie on Vimeo.
