1. Connecting Academics & Parents
Academic seminars to sharpen skills and build understanding in
Division of Fractions
Critical Point: Welcome Parents and share that this session is about how to help their child have a better understanding of division of fractions.
Step By Step Directions:
Welcome Parents and Guardians to the training.
Share that this training is about how they can help their child better understand division of fractions.
Explain that they will be engaged in some activities that will help them to support their child with division of fractions.
The training will also include some purposeful practice tasks that they can do at home.
Only spend about 2 minutes on this slide.
Disclaimer: Prior to training, preview the problems so that you understand how to represent the problem scenarios using pictures, number lines, etc.
In addition, preview the purposeful practice tasks on slide 9 to ensure that you understand the mathematics behind the game and that you know
how to model it for parents. Make extra copies of the recording sheet from the Fraction Attack! Game so that they have a copy to take home.
Materials List: Fraction Tiles, Deck of Cards, pencil, copy paper
Copies in Packet: Powerpoint Slides (2 per page), Handouts from games

2. Mathematics Florida Standards Focus
Grade 5
MAFS.5.NF.2.7 Solve real world problems involving division of unit fractions by non-zero whole numbers and division of whole numbers by unit fractions.
Critical Point: Grade 5 Students are ONLY required to divide whole numbers by unit fractions and unit fractions by whole numbers. Conceptual understanding of division with unit fractions using pictures and models is all that the standard requires. Grade 5 students are NOT required to know a procedure or algorithm for fraction division.
Step By Step Directions:
Read the slide to the parents.
Share with parents that grade 5 students are required to divide unit fractions. State the critical point here.
Share with parents that the standard on the slide is a summary of the standard that we will be addressing in this parent training and if they would like to learn more about the standard they can go to
Spend about 1 minute on this slide.

3. Learning Progression: Division of Fractions
3.NF.1.1
4.NBT.2.6
5.NF.2.7
6.NS.1.1
Partition circles and rectangles into two and four equal shares, describe the shares using the words halves, fourths, and quarters.
Partition circles and rectangles into two, three, or four equal shares, describe the shares using the words halves, thirds, etc. and describe the whole as two halves, three thirds etc.
Understand a fraction 1/b as the quantity formed by 1 part when a whole is partitioned into b equal parts.
Find whole number quotients using the properties of operations.
Solve real world problems involving division of unit fractions by non-zero whole numbers and division of whole numbers by unit fractions.
Interpret and compute quotients of fractions and solve word problems involving division of fractions by fractions using equations to represent the problem.
Critical Point: Show how learning about division of fractions progresses from earlier grades to future grades.
Step by Step Directions:
Share learning progression for division of fractions.
Provide parents/guardians with a generalized overview of the progression for division of fractions such as:
It begins in first and second grade by developing a students’ understanding of equal shares by partitioning rectangles and circles,
In grade 3 formal instruction of fractions begin
Grade 4 embeds multiplication of a whole number by a unit fraction.
Grade 5 introduces the division of whole numbers and unit fractions.
Grade 6 extends fraction division to divide fractions by fractions.
3. Share with parents that if they want to learn more about the standards go to
www. flstandards.org
4. Spend about 2 minutes about the slide.
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4. How do we divide Fractions?
When students begin to divide fractions they should build on what they already know about dividing whole numbers. Look at the following questions and let’s see what we already know about division.
Think of the division expression below as you consider the questions.
Dividend
(amount being shared)
6 ÷ 2
What is Division?
How could a student interpret this expression?
What is a situation in the real world that we would divide?
What is a Real World situation where we would divide by a fractional amount?
Divisor
(size or number of equal groups)
Split into Equal
Groups of 2 Or
Split into 2 equal groups
6 ÷ 1 2
Divisor
Dividend
Critical Point: Connect understanding of whole number division to fraction division.
Step by Step Directions:
Begin by explaining that we are going to explore the meaning of division by discussing some questions on this slide.
Click through the questions, pausing after each one to allow parents to discuss their understanding. (As you click the answers will appear.)
Possible scenarios for question 3 (6 divided by 2) :
I have six cookies and I want each kid to get 2 cookies, how many kids can I share with?
I have six cookies and I have 2 kids, how many cookies would each get?
Possible scenarios for question 5 (6 divided by ½ ):
I have six cookies and I want each child to get ½ of a cookie. How many kids could I share with?
The connections that you want your parents to make between whole number and fraction division are:
Both with fractions and whole number division there are a divisor, dividend, and quotient
Both with fractions and whole number division you are still determining equal shares
Spend about 5 minutes on this slide.
Six Wholes split into equal groups of one half
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5. Modeling Division
Erica is having a party. She bought 6 submarine sandwiches, and wants to cut each sandwich into three equal pieces or thirds. How many sized pieces would she have for the party?
Create and label a model to show what is happening in the situation above.
Write a mathematical expression that describes your model.
Does your model represent a multiplication or division scenario.
You do NOT need to answer the question.
Critical Point: Students need to create models or drawings to make sense of fraction division in real world scenarios. Many students don’t see the division without creating models first.
Step by Step Directions:
Engage your parents in the problem. Remind them that it is NOT necessary to solve it, but to create a model that represents it.
As you are walking around, probe your parents to label their drawings relating it to the problem, as well as writing a mathematical expression to describe the model.
Select a parent who has a model that is labeled with words and a matching mathematical expression
Allow the parent to share, facilitate any questions about the model that the parents have.
Ask the parents how is the problem connected to division. ( Possible answer: We are splitting the sub up into equal shares. Which is division.)
Click to reveal other models that could be used to represent the problem.
Highlight the labeling.
Ask parents how they see division used in these models. (Possible answers: In both models, the wholes are being split or shared in equal parts.)
Ask the parents, What is the divisor, dividend, and quotient in this problem. (The dividend would be the 6 subs. The divisor would be the 1/3 size pieces. And the quotient would be the number of equal size pieces created.)
Share with parents that many students don’t see the division without creating models first.
Spend about 10 minutes on this slide.
Copyright 2009

6. We all Scream for Ice Cream!!!
You are going to a birthday party. From Ben and Jerry’s ice cream factory, you order six pints of Rocky Road ice cream. If you serve one-fourth of a pint of ice cream to each guest, how many guests can be served?
Critical Point: Representational models support students in understanding division of a whole number by a unit fraction.
Step by Step Directions:
Engage the parents in the problem.
Parents solve the problem using any model.
As you are walking around, probe your parents to label their drawings relating it to the problem, as well as writing a mathematical equation to solve the problem.
Select a parent who has a model that is labeled with words and a matching mathematical equation.
Allow the parent to share, facilitate any questions about the model that the parents have.
Ask the parents how is the problem connected to division. ( Possible answer: We are splitting the pints up into equal shares. Which is division.)
Click to reveal other models that could be used to represent and solve the problem.
Highlight the labeling.
Ask parents how they see division used in these models. (Possible answers: In both models, the wholes are being split or shared in equal parts.)
Ask the parents, What is the divisor, dividend, and quotient in this problem. (The dividend would be the 6 pints . The divisor would be the 1/4 size servings. And the quotient would be the number of equal servings created.)
Share with parents that many students don’t see the division without creating models first.
Spend about 10 minutes on this slide.

7. Art Project
You and your friend are on a team making an art project. The art teacher has given your team of a foot of tape. How many feet of tape will each of you receive if you both get the same amount? How many inches will each of you receive?
Critical Point: Representational models support students in understanding division of a unit fraction by a whole number.
Step by Step Directions:
Engage the parents in the problem.
Parents solve the problem using any model.
As you are walking around, probe your parents to label their drawings relating it to the problem, as well as writing a mathematical equation to solve the problem.
Select a parent who has a model that is labeled with words and a matching mathematical equation.
Allow the parent to share, facilitate any questions about the model that the parents have.
Ask the parents how is the problem connected to division. ( Possible answer: We are splitting the tape up into equal shares. Which is division.)
Click to reveal other models that could be used to represent and solve the problem.
Highlight the labeling.
Ask parents how they see division used in these models. (Possible answers: In both models, the wholes are being split or shared in equal parts.)
Ask the parents, What is the divisor, dividend, and quotient in this problem. (The dividend would be the 1/6 foot of tape. The divisor would be the 2 kids. And the quotient would be the equal amount of tape each child received.)
Ask parents how the tape problem is different from the ice cream problem. ( In the ice cream problem, we divided a whole number by a unit fraction, and in the art project we divided a unit fraction by a whole number. Also probe for noticing that in the ice cream problem the quotient was larger than both the divisor and the dividend, but in the art project the quotient was smaller than both the divisor and the dividend.
Share with parents that many students don’t see the division without creating models first.
Spend about 10 minutes on this slide.

8. how many batches of Fish Tacos would I be able to make?
DO TRY THIS AT HOME!
Take it Home and Try It!
Warning: Implementing this engaging activity will result in an increase in motivation and long-lasting learning.
Purposeful Practice Tasks:
1. Fraction Attack Game- practice
division of fractions in a game
format.
2. Real Word Applications of Fraction
Division – 3 different scenarios
Critical Point: Parents leave the training with two activities that support their fifth grader in dividing fractions.
Step by Step Directions:
Click to share that parents are going to be receiving two activities to support their child’s understanding of division of fractions.
Click to reveal one of the real world applications from their packet, which is using a recipe for fish tacos.
With this real world scenario, highlight that you are increasing the amount of lime juice to 6 cups so the expression would be 6 divided by one fourth to determine how many batches of fish tacos that you could make.
Share with parents that they are going to play the Fraction Attack! game on the next slide.
This slide should take about 3-4 minutes.
Talk with your child about cooking for the family. If I have 6 cups of Lime Juice
how many batches of Fish Tacos would I be able to make?
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9. Fraction Attack! Division
Materials:
1 two-sided Game Mat
Deck of Cards
Recording Sheet
Pencil and scratch paper 10
Face cards are worth 10 and Aces are worth 1.
How to Play:
1. Deal 5 cards to each player and place the remaining cards in a stack face down as a discard pile.
2. Place the Fraction Attack! Mat between the two players. (There are 2 sides to the mat. Start on Side A.)
3. The players will each place a card in one of the empty rectangles on the mat.
4. The players will both work to find the value of the division expression on their mat using their scratch paper.
5. Each player will check the other’s work.
6. The players receive one point for each correct answer.
7. Record their points, the equation that they created, and strategy used for the round on the recording sheet.
8. The cards are cleared from the mat and placed in a discard pile, and the mat is then flipped to Side B for the next round.
9. After the 5th round the players will look at their strategy column and receive 1 bonus point for each different strategy that they used.
10. The player then total their points and the one with the greatest number of points at the end of the game wins.
Critical Point: This slide will give parents an opportunity to play and understand the game, Fraction Attack!, that we are providing them with to practice with their child.
Step by Step Directions:
Hand out a deck of playing cards to each family. (Explain that they will need the two sided game board in their participant packet.)
Make sure that each family has pencils and blank copy paper to model division.
Have extra copies of the recording sheets for the game so that parents have one to play with and one to take home.
Click through the directions to explain how to play the game to parents.
Allow the parents an opportunity to play the game with those around them.
Answer any questions that may arise about the game and how it supports division of unit fractions by a whole number, or division of a whole number by a unit fraction.
5. Spend about 12 minutes on this slide.
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10. Things to remember about Dividing Fractions:
How did this session help you in supporting your child’s understanding of dividing fractions?
Why do you think it’s important for your child to NOT rush to memorizing procedures for dividing fractions without understanding?
Conceptual understanding of what a Fraction is must occur before teaching operations with fractions.
Connect understanding of whole number division to fraction division.
Allow your child to create and label models of scenarios in order to better understand division of fractions.
Critical Point: Building content knowledge for parents on supporting their child for understanding division of fractions.
Step By Step Directions:
Click through each of the three bullets and read the information on the slide.
Answer any questions that your parents may have.
Click a fourth time to engage your parents in a discussion about the question. (Answers should include: Models of division allow students to understand that division is being used in the problem, and to better understand what the divisor, dividend, and quotient are.)
4. Click a fifth time to engage your parents in a discussion about the question. Answers will vary.
5. This slide should take about 5 minutes.
Copyright 2009