Answer to Question #216239 in English for Nelly

Question

Fractions knowledge domains include the following: equal sharing partitioning, and unitising. Design learning activities that you can use to teach learners fractions guided by each knowledge domain

Answer 1

When partitioning an area into fractional parts, students need to be aware that (1) the fractional parts must be the same size, though not necessarily the same shape; and (2) the number of equal‐sized parts that can be partitioned within the unit determines the fractional amount (e.g., partitioning into 4 parts means each. Locating a fractional value on a number line is particularly challenging but very important for students to be able to do. Shaughnessy (2011) found four common errors students make in working with the number line: They use incorrect notation, change the unit (whole), count the tick marks rather than the space between the marks, and count the ticks marks that appear without noticing any missing ones. This is evidence that we must use number lines more extensively in exploring fractions (most real-life contexts for fractions are measurement related). Students can partition sets of objects such as coins, counters, or baseball cards. When partitioning sets, students may confuse the number of counters in a share with the name of the share.

Unitising means treating groups that contain, or represent, the same numbers of things as ‘units’ or ‘ones’. It forms a thread of understanding throughout further development of multiplication and division concepts. It allows children to move from additive to multiplicative choices. When studying fractions for example, the fraction 3/4, a teacher might represent three slices of a pie that’s been cut into four equal slices. This will help students to understand fractions generally.