Unit Review

See my Do Now in my Strategy folder that explains my beginning of class routines.

Often, I create do nows that have problems that connect to the task that students will be working on that day.   Today I want students to practice dividing fractions.  Some students may draw pictures, some students may ask to use a fraction kit, while other students may use an algorithm.  I want students to recognize that these are division problems and be able to find the quotients.  Problem 4 is the hardest because students have to interpret the remainder.  The common mistake is to come up with the answer 1 1/8.  The leftover 1/8 represents 1/3 of 3/8, so the answer is 1 1/3.

I have a student explain their answer for each of the problems.  For each problem I have a student show a picture or I draw one under the document camera.  I also ask students how they could use a different strategy to find the same answer.  If students struggle with problem 4, I use the fraction kit to model what is going on.  We have to relate the leftover 1/8 to the divisor (3/8) not 1 whole.  

Note:

• For this lesson, some students may need a fraction kit to help model problems.  Example: Fraction Kit

I call on students to read through the expectations.  I show students where the fraction kits are if they need them. I explain that students can approach this work in different ways: they can walk around and do the work at each problem, or they can walk around and copy the missing information onto their packet and then sit down to solve problems.  The important part is that they are doing their work and asking questions if they are stuck.

Notes:

• I print 2 copies of each problem and post them around the room.  That way students can spread out and get the information.
• I look at students’ work on the practice problems from the previous lesson (Strategies for Dividing Fractions Day 2).  If there are a small group of students who continue to struggle, I will have them work with me in a small group.  We will walk around to the problems together.  If needed, I will have them focus on a smaller number of the problems.
• I have some sets of review problems with the information already filled in.  If a student cannot handle moving around and is distracting others, I give him/her a filled in packet and have them work independently at a seat.

As students work, I walk around and monitor student progress.  Students are engaging in MP1: Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them, MP2: Reason Abstractly and Quantitatively and MP4: Model with mathematics.

If I have a small group I am working with, I get up every few minutes and check on how students are doing.  If students struggle, I encourage them to use the fraction kit to model what is going on.  If they need ideas for another way to solve the problem, I have them go up and look at the Strategies poster we created in the previous lesson.

Here are some additional questions I may ask:

• What is going on in this problem?
• What operation do you need to solve this problem?  Why?
• What is your estimate for the problem?  Why?
• Look at the strategies on the poster.  Which strategy do you want to use?
• What is a different way we could solve this problem?
• What does your answer mean?
• How could you check to see if your answer works?

If students successfully finish their work, I collect it.  Students pair up and pick a fraction game to play: The Comparing Game, The Smaller Answer Wins, Score the Difference, or The Multiplying Game.  Each partner pair will need a rules sheet, a recording sheet, and a die.  For an extra challenge students can use a 1-10 spinner or 1-10 die.

For Closure I ask students to share out specific things that they class did well during work time and specific things that they can improve on for the next time we do an activity like this.  I stress that these are reflections about the class as a whole, rather than reflections about individual students. 

If we have time I ask if there are specific questions that students want to ask/talk about. 

Instead of giving a ticket to go, I collect students review problems and group share notes to look at.  Then I pass out the HW Unit 4 Review.