Clip 2/9: Lesson - Part 1: Formative 5th Grade

Overview

Students were asked to look at an area model and 3 different numerical representations (2 1/3, 7/3, and 7/9) given by different students to represent the area model. They were asked which student they agreed with and why. They then shared their reasoning with partners and with the class as a whole. To structure students’ responses and provide access to all, students were asked to use the sentence frame: I agree with ___ because.

Teacher Commentary

I chose to start the lesson with this warm-up activity to address misconceptions from the first day of the card sort. Many students were confused with an area model that represented more than one whole. For this activity, I wanted to emphasize the concept of the denominator representing the number of equal parts in a whole. I also wanted students to use the word “equivalent” to talk about two fractions that represent the same quantity. I asked students questions to address the misconceptions without just giving students the information. Students had to justify their own reasoning. This connects to CCMP3.