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December 11, 2014 Instructional Strategies

Using Food to Teach Fractions: Math You Can Eat

  • About the Author
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About Teresa

Teresa Cooper is a 30-something divorced mom and teacher from North Carolina. She has a Masters of Science in Education for Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment from Walden University and a BA in Psychology with a minor in Creative from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Having struggled with anxiety and depression most of her life and later having birthed a child with autism, she is passionate about spreading awareness and acceptance of mental illness and autism. After 13 years in education, she has a wealth of knowledge to share on education and bonding with children.
  • PTSD in Teachers: Yes, It's Real! - August 19, 2018
  • Teacher Anxiety: How to Cope With Anxiety Under Stress - July 29, 2018
  • Depression Kills Teachers if Left Untreated: It Should Not Kill Their Careers - July 23, 2018
  • Amidst Declining Mental Health in Teachers, What Can Administrators Do? - June 30, 2018
  • 5 Things I'd Tell Myself in My Earlier Teaching Years - October 15, 2017
  • How Class Dojo Saves My Sanity Daily - October 1, 2017
  • Surviving the School Year: Game of Thrones Style - August 27, 2017
  • What to Change Behavior? Start With Class Meetings in Special Education - August 20, 2017
  • When Your Administrator Doesn't Like You - July 3, 2017
  • Conquering Teacher Biases Against Disabilities: Important Strategies - May 8, 2017

Like most students I teach, my students all got taught multiplying fractions the classic way. You multiply the numerator by the numerator and the denominator by the denominator. You either learn the method or you don't (just like any other procedural method you learn in math). Many kids take to concrete methods of learning better than abstract methods, though--especially struggling learners. Using food to teach fractions, though? Brilliant.

When I came across the brownie pan method while running my usual extensive internet search for concrete teaching methods, I got really excited. Not only could I give my students something concrete and visual, but they could eat what they learned when I got through teaching it. I don't think I could come up with a better incentive for learning than that.

So whenever you want to show your students how to multiply something like ¾ x ⅔, try using brownies. The kids will eat it up!

The graphic below shows how to do it.

Using Food to Teach Fractions: Math You Can Eat

 

Have you ever used food to teach? Feel free to share in the comments! 

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