Flipping Pancakes - Personal Learning Path Post 2

This past week I decided to try incorporating work with fractions into my student teaching. I thought this would be a useful way to not only gain my own knowledge on fractions but to get a feel for how it would be to teach fractions. I am currently working in a 3rd grade ICT classroom and I work closely with special education students. Some of my students need extra assistance and visual aids to help them with their activities and lessons.

I found a great resource on education.com called "Flipping Pancakes". (https://www.education.com/game/pancake-fractions/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAi9mPBhCJARIsAHchl1z0la1WYt5z25oSsoJG67C4veB3C4Om3_rnMUeysI2DJmzfQJSGoBQaAkvNEALw_wcB)

This game is so engaging and fun for students! Its an online educational game that shows a griddle of pancakes. There is a word problem presented asking for a fraction of pancakes. The student will flip over the correct amount of pancakes that is equal to the fraction and serve them on a plate. 

For an additional visual aid for students I created a physical representation of this game: 

This model that I created includes a griddle, spatula, pancakes and different fraction cards.

Students were told to work in pairs. They would take turns flipping the correct number of pancakes and reading the fraction cards. 


I found that students enjoyed this activity, especially the interactive physical model! It was a great way for students to learn how to use and simplify fractions. I also enjoyed using this activity because it gave me a great (and much needed) refresher on fractions and how to break fractions down. 

I have been also refreshing my knowledge and comfortability working with fractions by watching educational videos and working closely with my cooperating teacher on the best ways to teach fractions in the classroom. 



Comments

  1. Kelly MertzJanuary 30, 2022 at 4:09 PM

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  2. Kelly MertzJanuary 30, 2022 at 4:26 PM

    Brittany, this is great! This is such an easy to understand visual representation of the content and I feel makes it so much easier for students to digest. I love that you are giving students options on how to learn the material and this is definitely fun and engaging for them. This is a great resource and I may try to use something similar and tweak it for my 4th graders since some of them are still really struggling with fractions. Thank you for this nicely done!

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  3. Professor BromleyFebruary 6, 2022 at 2:29 PM

    Brittany, you did a great job with this! It's a great activity to show how fractions apply to a set, and in a fun and appealing way! Love the pictures, too, thanks for sharing!

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  4. Jamila RoseFebruary 9, 2022 at 9:53 AM

    I like this activity so much! you appealed to both the Visual and Kinesthetic Learners. In addition, I found it rather skillful that you did this game before presenting it to the class, which would help you assess challenges and make possible adjustments for diverse learners if needed!

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