Once a month we have a PD session after school. We were supposed to be brainstorming in small groups about two teaching strategies, but somewhere in there I whipped out the monster of all mathematical inquiries: "What does it really mean to multiply a fraction, anyway?!" Oooh. Thus, the great mathematical conversastion began.I should know, right? After drawing numerous pictures and talking about a million ways to chop up pies and apples, we did manage to make a little ground...but really, multiplying and dividing fractions doesn't make all that much sense. Or does it? Our conversation would go around in circles, until someone would finally concede..."whatever, just teach them the rule!"
I was the kind of kid more than happy to take the rule and apply it, no questions asked. But not every kid is satisfied with that (which is a good thing!), so as a teacher I'm on a mission to get behind this mathematical...quandary. The best I've got so far is using an overlapping grid that shows area to multiply one fraction by another. That makes sense to me. And chopping up an apple bit by bit seems to work in my brain. Wilf Olson! Speak out your wisdom! Anyone else? I'll give...a high five...to anyone who can think of a great way to teach the science of multiplying fractions! (Bonus high five for enlightening us on division!)
Back to apple chopping...
1 comment:
Sorry friend, I've got nothing. I completely gave up on learning math around...um...I think it was grade six, when the teacher started explaining "real numbers". To this day I still don't understand how some can be "real" and therefore others are "fake" because they are not real. Yep. Its absolute lunacy. Some may even say that it is injustice in the math world. And, so I have not paid attention to math since then...well, until I took stats class at university. Which, for the record, I loved and I got 92% overall. It made sense because it was applicable to social sciences...and nobody tried to tell me that only some of the numbers were real. Bologna. Anyway, sorry I can't help, but as I got thinking of your question, my good old memories of math class returned. And I realized that I was not one of those students who could just learn a rule and apply it without having a good reason to do so - but I have learned to do that in university too. hhhmmm, maybe I have learned something this past few years after all!
Okay, back to my homework...thanks for letting me ramble for a bit! I loved your Coldplay blog too! Looks like fun! Love you friend! :)
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