Fraction is like making a cake and getting to eat only a part of it :-( no wonder it is not a popular maths topic.

Jokes apart - most children struggle with fractions because of exactly the same reason they struggle with most of the maths.
They have not experienced it - enough. They have been given the symbolic way of representing fractions and operations of fractions too soon - without enough exposure of meeting the fractions in daily life.

While children meet half or one fourth in day to day life - the rest of the fractions are normally encountered or even if encountered not really reflected upon.

When we started workin with Asawari on fractions, we realised that while she was being taught in her erstwhile school fraction addition, multiplication etc, she was not even clear what a fraction is. So we deicded to start frmt he basics.

So we started with cutting the same size of paper into different number of equal parts. This established in her mind that finally the "whole" is the same (as in is it - 1). Further we moved about taking only a part of it and how the rest will again fit in to make it back to full (or 1)

To make her understand this and further equivalence of fractions, we devised a game.

FRACTION RUMMY - a Game to understand that

~ a whole is the same irrespective of how many (equal) parts it is divided (dinominator) or how many parts out of these we have (numerator) - the moment we have all the parts in which a whole is divided it is the same.

~ Equivalence and relation of different fractions

 How it works
(exactly as how one would play "rummy" with playing cards)

1. First printout and cut the strips - as playing cards - in the attached PDF file. Note each whole is the exactly the same - just that each is divided into a different parts.

2. Now colour some parts of each fraction and write the appropriate numerator in the fraction bubble.

3. Now the whole deck of cards is ready to play rummy - two or more players.

4. Deal say 12 cards each. One extra card is opneed in the middle as the starting card; while the balance deck is kept aside as a "drawing deck".

5. With the 12 cards in hand the children try to make sets of cards which add upto a whole - for example they may put 3/6 and 1/2 to make a whole. Or say, 1/4 and 5/10 and 2/8 to ake a whole. Children can visually kep the cards along each other to see if they are able to make a whole. They take turn by either picking up the playing card or picking a card from the drawing deck to help them make the sets. everytime they pick up a card they discard another card - so that they stay will 12 cards. When all the cards or 11 cards have been made into the sets of whole - they declare the game won!

6. Change the number of cards, rules of what needs to be made etc to make it more fun.

some websites to help you
1.
http://www.helpwithfractions.com/understanding-fractions.html

2.
http://www.mathexpression.com/understanding-fractions.html

3.
http://www.videomathtutor.com/basicmathvideos.html

4

Fraction Rap song - interesting

http://www.mrduey.com/

see the fraction lessons
 

Aditi-Ratnesh