I really enjoyed the class activities that we did during class tonight. I liked learning how Steve teaches fractions with is students. He introduces adding fractions using an area model, then teaches subtracting fractions using an area model and then he continues to teach them together. This is a teaching strategy I hadn't thought of before. Steve said that he teaches fractions this way, so students don't see adding and subtracting as having two different rules. Students learn that they have to do the same thing when adding and subtracting (using common denominators) fractions, the operation just changes.
Something that I have always had a difficult time with is explaining to students why we use common denominators, or why we change mixed numbers to improper fractions. Using the area model to add and subtract fractions helped me as a teacher see what was happening, and I can see how that will help my students understand why we use common denominators. I really like the visual representation, this is something I didn't always do when I was teaching fractions.
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