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Course Guide - USAID Teacher Education Project

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in the Teaching Mathematics <strong>Course</strong>.):. http://tinyurl.com/Fraction-Watanabe-PPT• Models of Fractions: http://tinyurl.com/Fraction-3Models• Download and print out as handouts for class (1 per student):o Decimal Grid http://tinyurl.com/Decimal-Grido Decimal Number Line PDF:o Area Model Fraction Strips: http://tinyurl.com/Area-Fraction-Strips• Have ready to bring to class:o Rulerso Strips cut from copy paper to make fraction strips• Read the plans for the upcoming three sessionsWeeklong Overview:This week gives your student a very basic introduction to fractions and decimals--asnumbers. Operations with fractions and decimals will be addressed in greater detailduring the "Teaching Mathematics" course. Thus, it is not necessary for you toaddress operations with fractions and decimals this week. Just concentrate onstudents' conceptual understanding of these two types of numbers and how they aredifferent from whole numbers.Recognize that young children find these two types of numbers strange, because manyof the properties of whole numbers no longer apply (such as, "Multiplication makes anumber 'bigger'," or "The more digits in a number, the greater its value.")Session 1 begins by defining a fraction as a number (on the number line). Studentsshould not confuse this idea of a fraction as a number with the various visual and reallife representations (such as segments of a circle), however useful those models canbe in helping young children begin to understand fractions.In order to do this, students will learn to distinguish between linear and area modelsby folding “fraction strips.” By labeling the folds (as opposed to the segments)students will be creating a linear model (like a ruler). When the strips, which are ofequal length, are laid out sequentially equivalent fractions will become evident.Session 2 introduces decimals as a special type of fraction: a fraction whosedenominator is a multiple of 10, but which is shown in a different format. 0.1 "looks"different from 1/10. However, it is the same number written in a different format. Thevalue of the number remains the same. Young children find it hard to understand this.Models for illustrating decimals will include both a grid and a linear model (a numberline from 0 to 1 that is divided into hundredths).Session 3, the Greatest Common Factor (GCF) and Least Common Multiple (LCM),builds on concepts introduced last week: factors and multiples.

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