Hey there! We began our unit on fractions this week! I'm feeling really behind, but hopefully we will get it all in, and if not, my hope is that my kiddos will at least know what I've taught them REALLY well! We shall see!! We started by reading the book Hershey Fractions and using Hershey bars to create equivalent fractions and parts of a set. You can read more about how I use this book HERE. Friday, we made our own fraction strips. We do have fraction bars as part of our manipulatives, but I do think it's helpful for students to make their own fraction strips. They are manually folding, cutting, and labeling them so they can hopefully SEE the parts and WHY it's 1/2 or 1/8. Of course, cutting in 5ths, 6ths, and 10ths isn't that easy, but they were great sports and we did quite a bit of problem solving to figure out how to fold and make them even. We put them in our math journals by sticking them in this pocket (free from Ashley Hughes!). Now, they have a resource they can use anytime plus they know how to make a fraction strip if they don't have my fraction bars right there or they need them on a standardized test! So, onto why we are here today! A math must read!! I'm sort of cheating this week because I am sharing a book that my good friend AMC at Looking From Third to Fourth shared several months back! The book is called Full House by Dayle Ann Dodds. Here is a synopsis from Amazon: "Miss Bloom runs the Strawberry Inn, and she loves visitors. All through the day she welcomes a cast of hilarious characters until all the rooms are taken. It’s a full house! But in the middle of the night, Miss Bloom senses that something is amiss — and sure enough, the guests are all downstairs eating dessert. Readers will be inspired to do the math and discover that one delicious cake divided by five hungry guests and one doting hostess equals a perfect midnight snack at the Strawberry Inn. Piece of cake!" This book is really cute! It rhymes and has some really silly characters, which students love. I wanted to do this activity and THEN post on it but we didn't get through as much as I had hoped this week, so I haven't done this lesson yet, but will this week. This book is really simple in regards to fractions, but it's so fun I had to think of a way to use it! We have to teach composing and decomposing fractions, so I thought I could use this book to jump off on composing and decomposing fractions. As each guest comes into Miss Bloom's house, we will compose our fractions (also basically adding fractions). Then, we'll use the book to pull apart the fractions as well (or decompose them). Also, all of the guests get a piece of Miss Bloom's cake and it's in the shape of a circle. I'm going to use this book in small group, and we are going to use the circle fraction pieces to make the cake. Then, we'll start with 6ths, since that's in the book, and compose and decompose the fractions. Then, we'll make "cakes" with the other fraction circles and practice composing and decomposing those as well! Hopefully that makes sense! I wish I could have pictures for you today, but I'll have to add them in this week! Also, here is a poster I found on Pinterest. It was a dead link, so I can't give credit unless you know who made this? I hate not giving credit because I love this poster! Here's another poster: Source I hope to remember to come back and add my pictures this week!!! I hope everyone has a wonderful week! Next week's linky- Science