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Intermediate grades are working on fractions recently. It is really important that students have a variety of hands-on materials to help make sense of fractions.
These are a few of my favorite manipulatives when teaching fractions.
- Patty Paper or Strips of Paper. Both are very affordable and with folding students can easily visualize equivalent fractions. The strips of paper help students see. the connection to fractions on a number line. Patty paper (square paper put between raw hamburger patties) helps students realize that the whole of the fraction can be in different shapes.
- Fraction Towers. These are stacking cubes that students can use to compare fractions or begin exploring adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators. I appreciate that only one side is labeled with the fraction. If students use the other three sides it encourages them to determine the fraction based on the whole. Organization Tip: These store very nicely in sandwich containers from the dollar store.
- Fraction Circles and Fraction Squares (unlabeled). I like using both of these. They help reinforce the idea that fractions are part of the whole. This is why I like the unlabeled version. The labeled version takes away the opportunity for students to think about the fractions. Using different shapes, also encourages flexibility in thinking about fractions.
- Fraction Rulers. I am not sure these are made any more as I couldn’t find them on Amazon. I love these. It is a triangular ruler that has all the popular fraction units on it. Students can use it to accurately create representative number lines showing different unit fractions. This is super helpful when comparing fractions, creating common denominators, or equivalent fractions. It also helps reinforce the concepts of fractions on a number line.