Experiences

Date: 2014.11.06

Posted by Bogusława Szukalska (Poland)

In my opinion this topic is also difficult for students. Your practical experience is very effective and simple to organize. My solution is a game. I'm trying to diversify the activities and combine them with other subjects and different spheres of life. i organize a project 'Preserves for winter' that helps students to understand fractions and ratio, calculating the fraction of the number, and what fraction of a given number is the second number. These classes allow for cross-subject cooperation because at mathematics lessons students perform calculations and make the right choices while in the technology lessons preserves are made according to the proposed recipes.

Date: 2014.10.16

Posted by Marieta Andreeva (Bulgaria)

For elementary school I find this explanation as very appropriate. I teach at 8-12 grade, when it is assumed that they know fractions. I may also say arithmetic with fractions is difficult for most students. When you need to explain how fractions are summed, eg. 1/2+1/2 usually students add the numerators and receive 2, and then I ask: "Will half cake and another half cake make two cakes?" And so I explain why we need the denominator. In my practice I have noticed that for students what is most difficult is memorization rather than understanding the material.