Jones- Student Work Week 6

On October 8, the third grade students in my class were working on separating figures into equal parts as part of the "Do Now" which the students work on in the morning if they are not eating breakfast. As a part of the "Do Now", the students had to identify the rule in a given pattern and separate figures into equal parts. The students understand the concept of separating a figure into equal parts. However, when they were asked to write a fraction to represent that one shaded piece out of the total pieces students became confused. One student wrote 3/3 when he was supposed to write 1/3 for one out of 3 total pieces were shaded. It is good that the student recognized that the figure in question could be separated into equal parts however writing a fraction of a set of equal parts was unfamiliar to this student

Students were also learning to identify patterns in a sequence of numbers. The students were able to identify the number pattern in 15, 18, ____, 24, ____. They realized that the pattern was to add or count up by three. Students were able to identify patterns when they had the ease of counting up to find the next number. When the students were presented with the pattern 36, ____, ____, 27, the students had trouble realizing that they were still using multiples of three but they had to subtract or count down in this number sequence. One particular student started at 27 and counted up to 36 because this was easier for her. The majority of the third graders in my classroom find it easier to count up than to count down.

Future tasks to enhance students knowledge of equal parts and fractions as well as identifying patterns would be to have the  students using manipulatives and explaining their reasoning.  This will allow students have physical objects to work this and talk out the misconceptions they may have in small groups with the teacher during math centers. Students should have the opportunity to create their own number patterns in groups and take turns solving each others patterns. This will further clarify how to identify number patterns and allow the students to help each other clear up misconceptions they may have. Having the students work in groups will help to create a stronger classroom community.