Questions and Answers

One question I had at the beginning of this unit was, how can I teach students about fractions so they have a relational understanding of the process? It was obvious to me that I only had a conceptual understanding of most processes and did not understand WHY we follow certain steps to solve a fraction problem. As a student, I do not remember ever using the manipulatives as extensively as we have in this class to understand the fraction concepts. As a future teacher, I now understand the importance of using those manipulatives and following certain steps to develop the concept of fractions in my future classroom. While I know the steps are not a foolproof manual that will give the students immediate and complete understanding, I realize that the steps can be used as a guide to get students thinking and building on their own ideas about fractions.