Unbelievable Addition

July 16, 2010 bunnylovesmath
Tags: addition, Fractions

Adding and subtracting fractions is something I had to try and help students understand when I spent time in a fourth grade classroom. A lot of students were not able to recognize when they could just add or when they had to change the denominator. Other students would not even know what numbers they are adding together. It was frustrating for not only the students, but for me and the teacher as well.

A lot of times students will often just add the two numerators together and the two denominators. This is something teachers really need to grind into their brains, that just adding across is totally wrong.  After they are aware of that deal, it is just getting them to understand what you do to the bottom you have to do to the top. Something that I noticed that helps is making the student rewrite the problem with the new denominator, because it helps them see what they are actually doing. It is not a great idea to rely on fourth graders doing math in their heads, always make them write it out. It just makes it easier for everyone.

Here is an example of how adding fractions with different denominators could be done…

It was just amazing how much this help students understand how to add fractions. So, I guess we should all try and pay attention to the little things in teaching.

Entry Filed under: Math

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