Journal Article Review: Fractions and the funky cookie

Summary:
This article discussed the use of manipulatives, pattern blocks, to help students deepen their understanding of fractions. This was a 5th grade class who received extra help from a math specialist who came in to work with the students according to one agenda; however, their agenda changed as they saw the needs of the students. The specialist realized through the use of guiding questions as they worked with manipulatives that the students needed to understand the concept of fractional parts of a whole item must be of equal size. The teacher used pattern blocks to demonstrate with the use of the "funky cookie" which was a an irregular shape made up of different types of pattern blocks. The teacher asked the students to explain if and how they could share the "funky cookie" between 6 people. They were also asked to construct their own shape that could be shared between 6 people. Through this, the specialist understood that the students needed to understand that in order to share between 6 people, the parts had to be the same size in order to make it equal. The students were able to come to a full understanding of what equal parts of a whole unit meant.

Reflection:
I thought this article was great! Especially after working with pattern blocks in class today in our manipulative activity!! It was helpful to see how the teacher adapted her teaching plans/strategies to fit the students' needs as they arose. It is evident from this article that teachers need to anticipate where the students' thought process are going and how to guide them with the right questions that will be thought provoking and directional to guide them to what they need to know. It is also evident that teachers need to be fluent in their mathematical knowledge and need to have a depth of understanding in math that exceeds that of paper and pencil math so that the teacher can think of more than one strategy to problem solve.

This was a creative approach to help the students come to an understanding and was a great example of running with a teachable moment with the students. I think that this reinforces the benefits of incorporating manipulatives into lessons in order to help students grasp concepts that are difficult to understand. I liked this article a lot and appreciated the way the teacher was flexible in their plans to meet the needs of the students.

Ellington, A. Whitenack, Joy (2010). Fractions and the funky cookie.
Teaching Children Mathematics 16(9), 534-539.