Ms. Czaplinski, Portfolio

The book Apple Fractions by Jerry Pallota was read to the students, one day prior to this activity. The teacher will ask students to meet at the “Gathering Area.” To activate prior knowledge the teacher will have an apple, and then will use an apple cutter to cut the apple into 10 equal pieces. The teacher will ask the students how many pieces there are all together. Then the teacher will choose ten students. The teacher will give each student one piece of the apple. The teacher will ask students to help her write the fraction. The teacher will ask students the following questions, to help her with the fractions: What is the denominator?  What is the numerator? Before students are asked to return to their seats. The teacher will tell them that they will be doing fractions with an unhealthy treat (Starburst candies). The teacher will explain to students that at the end of the activity the teacher will allow the students to have one of the Starburst candies. The rest of the Starburst candies can be taken home and eaten when their parents give them permission.

Developmental Activities:  

The students will be asked to return to their seats. Each student will receive a Ziploc bag with Starbursts. Each bags content will be identical. Each student will also receive a worksheet. The teacher will use a transparency of the worksheet and an overhead projector. The questions on the worksheet will be answered, one by one, with the class as a whole. The students will be given an ample amount of time to use the Starburst candies as a manipulative in order to assist them in answering the questions. See worksheet attached. Miss Wakefield and Ms. Collins-Nelson will be circulating around the room, helping students stay on task and will assist if the student is having difficulty with the worksheet. 

Concluding Activities:

Following the whole class activity, the students then will be divided into three groups. The groups will be differentiated. Each group will receive a different worksheet. The task will be to create an original “Fraction Story” using the topic of fish and other animals in an aquarium. (See attached worksheets) The teacher will guide the students as they focus on sentence structure, capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and proofreading skills. There will be three groups: 1. Stretch group 2. Base group 3. Support group. The “Stretch” group will receive a worksheet which will involve the comparison of fractions with the aid of the Everyday Math fraction cards. The “Base” group will receive a worksheet which is similar to the previous activity. The “Support” group will receive a worksheet which will include teacher prepared “prompts.” For closure the class will meet back as a whole at the “Gathering Area”. Each teacher will choose a student from their group to share what they completed in their group activity. In addition, the teacher will review the fraction vocabulary with the class.

Evaluation:

The teacher will informally asses students during the whole class “Starburst activity.” In addition the teacher will evaluate student work during the small group activity.