Fractions, fractions, fractions...I know! I have been writing about them a lot. So sorry! It is only because I am so excited.
If you missed my previous posts, we have been working hard to make fractions connect to our students' lives. We have been doing activities with ice cream, a Powerpoint and sorts, and graham crackers. And it has been working...so far! Our next activity was a true test as to whether or not they could apply what we have been teaching.
Nicole from Colorful Teaching had written about a Fraction Museum that she had conducted in her classroom. SOLD! We had to try it out.
Jess and I collected items from home and around the school that we thought would fit into a fraction museum. They were set up and ready to be chosen:
Each student had the opportunity to pick out the item that they would like to showcase in the museum. We discussed how a museum is set up and that each item receives a plaque that describes the object and the creator. Students filled out their "plaques" describing their fraction. Here are some of the examples:
We flipped the cards inside out so that you could only see their name on the outside. As a class, we discussed the expectations and rules of a museum. Then it was time to get started!
Each student walked around the museum with a recording sheet. They wrote down the fractions that they discovered.
Once the sheets were completed, we checked our answers by looking inside the "plaques". There was so much excitement in the room by the teachers and students :)
I have to be honest...I was worried about this lesson. It was either going to go REALLY well or REALLY bad. Phew!! It went well.
I found this video from Scholastic that shows a fraction museum in action!
Have you tried this in your classroom? Did your students respond well to it?