Fraction Frustration

Nature and Design of Compelling Fashion Project - Video (also on FB)

What Not to Teach



Transcript

Frame 1
Teacher:
Boys and Girls, today we are going to explore equivalent fractions!

Students:
Equiva-what?
Ugh!
Oh, no,… not the fraction pieces!!

Frame 2
Pizza:
ARRRGGGHHHH!!! It’s that time of year again when teachers go in to their curricular closets and pull out their faded or frayed or fuzzy or faded or frighteningly fragmented fraction pieces.

Frame 3
Pizza:
C’MON PEOPLE!! Where’s the fun… Where’s the flair… Where’s the function… in these flat, flavorless pieces of plastic?

Frame 4
Pizza:
Let’s shine a spotlight on these sixths for a sec. What do you see?

Frame 5
Students:
Uh… six stiff slices of some synthetic substance.
Six sticks used to solve some silly problem.
Something to shuffle, stack, slide around, and stuff back in the box until next year.
Supplements for a subject that doesn’t make sense.

Frame 6
Pizza:
Are they… fabulous and fresh? meaningful and munchable? stimulating and savory? transferable and tasty? practical and filled with pizza-zz?

Students:
Not really!
Hardly!
Are you kidding?!

Frame 7
Teacher:
Hold the cheese, Stuffed Crust!! I thought manipulatives were mod!? I thought these shapes were chic!?

Frame 8
Pizza:
Well, there is space for these supports in the curricular closet, but as you fashion a lesson you must consider what is going to be engaging and enduring.

Frame 9
Teacher:
I thought I did. After all, these fraction pieces are more fashionable than wearing a hole in a worksheet or strutting problems on the board.

Frame 10
Pizza:
Uh… Perhaps I should illustrate with the help of some of my crusty old friends.

Frame 11
Fraction Pizzas:
Hey, Pepperoni Pete. We’re all dressed (minus the tomatoes) and ready to go!
What kind of savory solution can we serve up today?

Frame 12
Teacher:
Mmmmm…. My students would love this!

Pizza:
Let’s try on some edible eighths for size!

Frame 13
Pizza:
If we were to eat one half (1/2) of the pizza, how many eighths would that be?

Fraction Pizzas:
Hmm… if 8 pieces equal one whole, and half of 8 is…
Ask me! Ask me! I know! I know!
Eat??? Who said anything about eating?!

Frame 14
Teacher:
Wow! The students are so engaged!

Pizza:
And, the ideas will endure!

Frame 15
Pizza:
While I’m partial to pizza, can you think of another way to fashion a fraction lesson featuring food?

Frame 16
Teacher:
Hmmm… could I edibly enlighten students about equivalents by baking cookies?

Frame 17
Teacher:
Aha! My students could not only work with equivalent measurements, but also…

Pizza:
… Oh, yes! They could also find equivalent fractions within the whole batch of cookies. Great!

Frame 18
Teacher:
How many… fourth (1.4) cup measures are equivalent to two cups of flour?

Pizza:
The class eats two thirds (2/3) of a batch of cookies, what is the equivalent if there are 24 cookies?

Frame 19
Teacher:
I can see now how fashioning a fraction lesson using food would be more fun and functional!

Frame 20
Pizza:
This practical approach from the pantry also allows you to branch out beyond the basics more easily and effectively than those boring fraction bars.

Transformational Tidbits
After purging the teacher’s closet of plastic pieces and expanding her instructional palette, she was freed to fashion lessons that linked to life. Her teaching was transformed…
• from tacky to tasty.
• from stale to stylish.
• from limited to long-lasting.
• from apathetic to appetizing.

One week later…

Frame 21
Teacher:
Boys and Girls, today we are taking our class TO THE KITCHEN for some culinary calculations…

Students:
Awesome… Math with muffins!!!
This makes so much more sense than those silly sticks!
I can’t wait to fix some food fractions at home!!

Application Addendum:
What does this mean for us??

We must consider carefully the tools of our trade, in order to prepare pertinent, purposeful, practical, and profound plans for our pupils.

Don’t forget the pizza-zz!!