Fractions, Decimals, & Percents-Making a Real Life Connection.

     When I was in elementary school, I remember talking about nationalities and I shared that I was 1/2 Polish, 1/2 German, and 1/2 Irish.   At the time I didn't understand why I got a laugh from that until I caught on to fractions in math class (talk about relating concepts to other subjects).  I actually remember thinking, ahhhhhhh!  This is another life experience that reminds me how differently kids think and the different rates at which they catch on to certain concepts.  I wonder if my teacher had  included a variety of examples pertaining to fractions in her instruction, if I would have figured it out before I spoke out loud.  I guess we will never know...

     There are so many ways to connect the concept of fractions, decimals, and percents to real life situations.  Baking, shopping, sports,  money, etc.   I have managed to use baking with my kids to slip in teaching moments this summer, shhhhhh!  As they measured out the ingredients, we didn't always have exactly the right measuring tools so we had to figure it out by discussing and converting. The  1 cup and the 1/2 cup were dirty, so how else can we measure 1 cup?  My son used the 1/4 cup four times.  Hopefully, this will come back to him during a math test and he will be able to apply it. My older son wanted a new pair of shoes that were on sale and he had to figure out the percent off and the new price to determine if he had enough money.  He can also connect this to other math questions in school.   I have used this myself this summer as we have been remodeling our home and we had to figure out how much things would cost installed or done ourselves to get the most for our money.  We wanted carpet and tile put in but could not afford it.  By tiling ourselves, and choosing a tile on sale, we only spent 1/5 of the flooring allowance which left 4/5 or 80% or .8 of our budget to be spent on an upgrade on carpet and installation. Is this a real life word problem or what?

     The point is,  students can't always make these connections on their own.  Teachers need to broaden their instruction methods by showing the connection between real life experiences and the math concepts being taught.  We all know that there is more than one way to look at something so we better be prepared to show them!  I will leave you today with a fun website for kids to practice converting percents and also with a little math humor...
http://www.mathplayground.com/percent_shopping.html

Walk the Line

 

     Number lines were the only things to help me to visually understand adding and subtracting negative numbers.  I had no problem remembering that a negative, times a negative equaled a positive, but adding and subtracting negatives haunted me.  Sometimes it’s the way things are worded in math that get me.  For example, subtracting by adding the opposite leaves my brain in a pretzel and frustration begins to build.  A number line with negative on one side and positive on the other makes perfect sense visually and mentally to me.

     I used to picture myself walking on the number line like a balance beam going forward for positive and backward for negative depending on the problem I was solving.  Looking back I now see what a great manipulative number lines can be for students.  If they can eventually picture it in their head, they can move away from using the manipulative all together.  I think this would be extremely helpful with younger students and Special Ed. Students.  I have seen rulers used in the Special Ed room I was observing for teaching the concept of adding and subtracting without negatives.

     I love when my thoughts or memories turn into inspiration for teaching my future students.  I think I have mentioned in every blog that I struggled in math and still do. But, it motivates me to keep learning and keep searching for resources and tools, like the number line, to effectively teach every student the math concepts they need to be successful in school and life. 

Here is a website that offers an interactive number line-Enjoy!

http://www.mathsisfun.com/number-line.html