Division of Fractions Taught Conceptually, part 2
Saturday, August 8th, 2009
Reciprocal numbers are taught by looking at measurement divisions with a dividend of 1 (e.g. 1 divided by 3/4). Then the procedure is generalized to any fractional dividend, so that we arrive at the common shortcut for division of fractions (the shortcut of flip and multiply). These steps effectively justify the rule for dividing fractions to the students.
Duration : 0:7:14
Teach division of fractions step-by-step. First students learn sharing divisions with easy numbers (such as 1/2 : 4), thinking of sharing pie or pizza between so many people. Then students learn “measurement divisions” (such as 3 : 1/2), thinking “how many times does the divisor fit into the dividend”. Both of these kinds of division problems are meant to be solved mentally, concentrating on the concepts. In part 2, I show how to teach reciprocal numbers and the general shortcut for fraction division.