BRIDGE CLUSTER

The Blue class explored fractions in a variety of ways, from equal sharing (8 burritos shared by 3 friends, how many burritos will each friend get?), to joining multiple groups (6 teachers eat ¾ of a banana each for snack, how many bananas are eaten?), to separating multiple groups (it takes ⅔ jar of paint to paint a toy, if you have 6 jars of paint, how many toys can you paint?). We also explored the value of fractions. Recently, we pulled out a large canvas tote full of chocolate bars and shook it. We asked the students if they would rather have a half or a whole. As you may have guessed, many of the students said a whole. We passed out whole mini chocolate bars to those who said, “Whole, please,” then pulled out giant chocolate bars, snapped them in half, and handed halves to the few who said, “Half, please.” Again, as you may have guessed, there were many, “Wait, what?” and, “I changed my mind!” As we all indulged in a mini Hershey bar (we saved the giant for camping s’mores), we discussed how it’s important to know what the whole is when working with fractions, as ½ of a giant candy bar could be more than a whole mini! In order to compare fractions, we need to know what the wholes or halves are. Not only was this delicious treat, it was a rich conversation.

Here is an example of a fraction riddle: