Replies

1. 
   Midnight | Jan 22, 2004 01:24am | #1

   Having gone right through school being tought metric, then having to learn imperial measurements as soon as I started my apprenticeship, I can sympathise with your students, AND you... Although every measuring tool I have uses a dual calibration, I find it a hellova lot easier doing calcs with metric than imperial...
   Although I don't envy your task, I do wish you the best of luck with it...

   <remembering countless hours spent with smoke belchin from the ears....trying to work out LCM's of dissimilar fractions...

   Mike Wallace

   Stay safe....Have fun

2. 
   BertJ | Jan 22, 2004 02:08am | #2

   Lib,

   Having been in the teaching profession for many years, the best answer I know is to BUILD SOMETHING! For example, build a simple box with dimensions of 6x4x3. With an easy common denominator of 12, you can make a story stick with "parts" of 12 marked off and visually see the relationships. Start with several 12" boards and use the story stick to lay out the cuts you will need. Good luck!!!

   BJ

3. 
   eddiefromAustralia | Jan 22, 2004 02:19am | #3

   lib,

    this sounds exactly like my work (teaching woodwork in a disadvantaged area of the state to mixed classes and abilities).

   I've had to resort to

   ...bring me the ruler please ... good .... now, give me your thumb . . . . here's the mark. . . .  got it . . .good, now mark out that line and bring me back the ruler ...

   for some students.

   Others I've had some success with.

   Does the maths department in the school have a strategy for teaching fractions - are the kids meant to know this at their current stage (I'd believe so)

   I'd look to see if the maths department has tips to teach fractions and then have a 'measuring' theory class with 'prizes' first up in the day.  One thing that I've learnt is that you don't teach a kid with ADHD after lunch.  Crowd control are words that come to mind in this situation.

   Cheers,

   eddie

   edit:  goes without saying that Bert's advice is best - kids hate sit down lessons and prefer to be up and about.  Practical work far outweighs anything theoretical - but if you're stuck and they need to learn fractions now, that was my thinking behind the 'need to know today' type lesson

   
   

   ---

   Edited 1/21/2004 7:38:54 PM ET by eddie (aust)

4. 
   WayneL5 | Jan 22, 2004 04:08am | #4

   You may get some good ideas from special ed teachers.  They have experience and special training in this.

   Another idea might be to get tapes or special rulers that only go down to, say, quarters of an inch, to keep it simple.

   I think it might be wise to avoid any theory of numerators and denominators, and treat fractions like things to be counted.  For example, you can read a ruler at twelve inches, then count, one quarter, two quarters, three quarters -- twelve and three quarters.

5. 
   BG | Jan 22, 2004 04:16am | #5

   Lib,

   I have always tried to find a way to turn the student on to themselves.  Most people have an inherent level of logic and math is logic...expressed through rules at that level.  I start fractions with money...most kids know money.  Ask them to divide a half dollar between two people...and they'll do it logically.  Ask them to divide up that half dollar between 5 people and still know problem.  If you then take the process that they used to divide it between 5....and extrapolate that to a number they cannot do in their head....they begin to see the logic and the rules...and how they don't have to remember all the answers just the rules....  then you take it from money to other objects.

   The real beauty is they begin to see that deep within them they are really quite smart...  
1. 
   jjf | Jan 22, 2004 04:21pm | #11

   BG,  your last line is perfect.  Something most people don't realize about themselves.  Therefore they just give up.

6. 
   JeffKurtz | Jan 22, 2004 04:21am | #6

   I think Bert has the right idea - get them interested in working wood.  If they are, it will make the math easier since they will be focused on a goal.  I once had a kid in my study hall who was struggling with the same problems as your kids.  He loved cars.  I convinced him he'd never be a mechanic if he couldn't do the math, so we focused on it as best he could using fractions, decimals etc. on little mechanical problems I devised.

   Can't say it will work with all kids, but it worked with him.  (He got a B on his next test.)  Perhaps little things like setting up a saw to make a certain cut as a project progresses.  A planer, or jointer - but keep them specific to the project at hand.  Good luck!

   Jeff

7. 
   edcross1 | Jan 22, 2004 04:39am | #7

   Hi lib,

   Having taught dyslexics and special needs children for some years now I use a rulaer that is expanded to show the breakdown ibto fractions, these are colour coded to help recognition. Things may be different here in the UK but I have had wonderful results with this ruler. Let me have your email address and I'll send you a copy if it helps.

   Hope this helps a little

   edcross1

1. 
   veggiefahmah | Jan 22, 2004 09:36pm | #14

   Hi Ed

   My email is [email protected]

   thanks very much for the offer

   Lib

8. 
   RANGERP75R | Jan 22, 2004 08:07am | #8

   lib

      I'm not a teacher, but have been around ADDH kids ( I had one till he out-grew it fortunately ). I totally agree with eddie about get done in early morning if at all possible. I will add that try to do in it in short sessions as they don't stay focused long. Rewards of some nature might help and praise for accomplishment is a "must".

      You have my admiration. Good luck.

   Regards...

   sarge..jt

   Proud member of the :  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

9. 
   oldfred | Jan 22, 2004 08:13am | #9

   Mastering the fractions was the toughest part of Industrial Arts.  Did everything but stand on my head to teach it.

   A few things that worked.

     Motivation:  Told the kids that they had a difficult time with the ruler, not because they weren't smart, but because they never had a reason to use it.  Till now.  Said I'd show them an easier way to learn. (they like easy)   

   Told them I would not bore them with the most stupid joke in the world. (So of course they wanted to hear it.)        So this guy is put into a closed box with nothing but a six foot long stick, and he escapes.  How?  Ans.:   He breaks the stick in half.   Two halves make a?    (the groans start)   "WHOLE"     And   he    crawls   through   the   WHOLE.  (Boo,  hiss....)  "Hey, I told you it was stupid!"

   Then we get out a string,  fold it in half. From one whole - two halves.  Fold again -four quarters.  And on to sixteenths.    Two halves make a whole. Four fourths make a whole.  Etc.

   We do the "easy way" to find half of any fraction - multiply the bottom number (denominator) by two.  (takes a bit of give and take but they can do this --If they can pass a driver's test, they can do this)

   Then we spend a few minutes memorizing the progression from one to one-half, to one-fourth, to one-eighth, to one-sixteenth.  (I was teaching seventh and eight graders and stopped at sixteenths   unless we were on a roll)

   That's the key - Memorizing: One, to one-half, to one fourth, to one-eighth, to one-sixteenth.

   Now we each take a piece of paper and draw an inch scale.  Draw two verticle lines and "build" an inch in the space between the lines.  And the simple "easy way" is to make the  division lines different heights according to which denominator the line represents. 

   The tallest division line is - one half.  Next tallest - one fourth (and three fourths). Next tallest - one eighth (three eighths, etc.)  and then sixteenths.

   Here it becomes necessary to point out that we are counting the spaces between the lines (not the lines) and that the division line for one-fourth is also two eighths and four sixteenths. (back to the string folding)

   I made enlarged models (posterboard strips) of one inch divided into halves, a model divided into fourths,  one into eighths, and one into sixteenths.   With these models I could show them how, by working from the tallest dividing line, they could work down to find any fraction.  And by just stepping down the lines they could easily tell what the particular ruler was divided into.

   Take the model of the inch scale that is divided into sixteenths and cover the tops of the dividing lines, so all the lines are the same height, and show them how difficult it would be to find a particular fraction.   Then uncover the tops of the lines and (assuming they have memorized the progression from a whole down to sixteenths), it becomes easy to read by looking at the top of the dividing lines.  Cover the bottom of the lines and show how it can become a scale divided in two halves.   Or fourths. Etc.

   Whew!    Sorry to have written so much but figured, you'd like any ideas ASAP rather than to have it reworked.  I'm "visual" and find the written desciption of this lesson difficult to follow.  Hope you can muddle through it and I hope  it helps.

   Oldfred

10. 
    edcross1 | Jan 22, 2004 03:52pm | #10

    Hi again,

    just read Fred's post and totally agree. Doing rather than talking will always help the process of learning. I too used the poster of the divided inch. I then developed into the ruler I've already mentioned. Kids and even adults learn and memorize things easier if they can visualize things rather than it just being a concept.

    I even got my kids to make their own fraction model. Take some lengths of timber all the same length, say four lengths. The first strip is the whole then the second is cut into halfs, the next into quarters the next into eighths. The kids then paint the stips different coulours and scew or nail them together. This gives a very good visualization of how the fractions relate to each other.

    We always went through a ten minute warm-up at the start of each lesson to practice our fractions. It was amazing the difference the kids made in one term. Have to addmitt it also help me as well, and to be honest some of the parents.

    edcross1

11. 
    notDusty | Jan 22, 2004 06:16pm | #12

                     Hi lib ,

         You have gotten some great tips and suggestions , especially the hands on type that are visual . One other that helps me is a quick trick in adding and subtracting fractions. Half of 3/8 is 3/16 , half of 3/4 is 3/8, half of 5/16 is 5/32 and so on and so on. This seems to help in most cases.

                           good luck                     dusty

1. 
   veggiefahmah | Jan 22, 2004 09:30pm | #13

   Wow!! Ya, ok.  I'll need a little time to process all these great ideas. Yall have come thru again. A  bit ago I posted a query about dovetails, (these guys have trouble with sequencing, top and bottom, left and right, back and front of the drawer)  I was able to come up with a nice method, (dyslexic-proof, if I may) that let the kid come up with a successful, complicated, little thing. After one student went thru my process, He had all the pieces right, and was amazed when he finally figgered out how they go together. 

12. 
    Dan019 | Jan 23, 2004 10:21pm | #15

    I find it easier to teach it as a simple fraction that hasn't been broken down fully. I.E 1/8 to 2/8 to 3/8 to 4/8 to 5/8 to 6/8 to 7/8 to 8/8. I just went thru this last yar with my 5th grader. It seemed to make more sense this way. With out doing all the mental gymnastics of further breaking the fraction down she was able to concentrate on the problem at hand. Getting to the LCD can come later after this basic step is learned. BTW sometimes if I'm taking a measurment and don't want to take the chance of a misread (which I belive we've all done at one time or another) I'll mentally call it out as 12 and 5/8 plus one (the one being 1/16) instead of calling it as 12 & 11/16. The less thinking the less chance for error, the KISS concept basically.

13. 
    Steinmetz | Jan 24, 2004 04:01am | #16

    LIB, Read your post and am intrigued with your and other poster's methods. One idea comes to mind to visually compare and mentally fathom fractions, is to use a set of auger bits. They are numbered in sixteenths (1,2, 3 ,4 and so on up to 16) (one inch)   1/16th, 2 /16th,3 4 5 etc

    That trick of folding string can also be done with strips of paper instead to visably divide lengths. 

    Graph paper strips,  (Of various scales) could be utilized as well, by making several 'Rulers' from 1/8, 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, 5/8, etc etc,graph strips After mastering the smaller scales,

    The students can use the smaller scaled 'Rulers' to transfer finer graduations to the larger. 

    My other suggestion is to buy or make various portioned  pie wedges of wood (Of same radii)  to teach angles and degrees of a circle. 90 45 22-1/2 etc, adding up to triangles, squares hex's octagons etc.  Those kids will eat it up  Stein.

    
    

    ---

    Edited 1/23/2004 8:06:33 PM ET by steinmetz

14. 
    artw | Jan 24, 2004 07:02am | #17

    I taught woodworking to high school kids for 33 years and this was a major task. One method I liked was to have the students use a 8-1/2 by 11 sheet of paper and call the 11 inch side 1 inch. Then have them draw 4 lines about 2 inches apart along the 11 inch direction. Then I would have them fold it in half, then unfold it and on the crease on the top line, write 1/2. Now fold it in half again. now have them fold the folded in half sheet in half again. unfold it so the sheet is flat and at the folds on the second line, write from left to right, write 1/4, 2/4, and 3/4. Repeat this process for eights and sixteenths. This works for most of the kids but you will still loose some also. Good luck

    Ken K