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Mathematics Content Framing Statement

Developing math concepts in elementary students is a practice of continual assessment

and adjustment for teachers; it is a process that frequently requires making adaptations for

individual learning styles, abilities, and readiness. Math is a subject that many students struggle

with, and although researchers have found this struggle to be associated with math anxiety

(Steuer, Rosentritt-Brunn, & Dresel, 2013), new research is also linking learning strife with

miraculous brain growth. (Moser, Schroder, Heeter, Moran, & Lee, 2011). Low-floor, high

ceiling tasks with an open-ended approach to solving real world problems are conducive to the

multiple entry and exit points of students with diverse learning profiles.

This math lesson I created is an adaptive response to my students’ misunderstandings and

misconceptions about fraction equivalency that I discovered through our explorations in fractions

in geometric art suggested by Jo Boaler. Boaler (2017) states that students often don’t see

fractions as relationships between the numerator and denominator, and therefore often lack the

key underlying idea that a fraction is a single number, which is necessary for performing

operations (pg. 143). By encouraging students to discover strategies for performing operations

like simplifying and finding equivalent fractions on their own, they are provided with

opportunities to use numbers flexibly and use methods that work best for them.

For the initial activity intended to help students “discover” equivalent fractions through

play with geometric art, students were asked to generate fractions for individual colors in square

pieces of art made up of smaller squares. Instructions were left wide open to use any strategy

they chose, and it was found that students did not use any strategies. They counted individual

squares. When asked to create their own individual geometric art using the same fractions they
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found in the example artwork, students rearranged the color placement and succeeded in keeping

the same fractions of each color, but no one chose to make larger or smaller squares to show they

were thinking about fractions having equivalence to other numbers.

This activity told me that these students were not automatically thinking about relative

size relations, and that students perhaps needed more explicit instruction to be introduced to the

concepts. In response, I led students through a lesson in their math work books that more directly

taught fraction equivalence using fraction tiles. Students were encouraged to use pie tiles to

experiment with equivalent fractions, and several students really benefited from this activity. For

many students, this was the first time they were seeing that a fixed quantity can have more than

one name, so having visual, tangible models helped make this notion more concrete (Van De

Walle, Karp, & Bay-Williams, 2016).

Next, I asked students to think about fractions on a number line, a model more abstract

but still more more certain than merely introducing an algorithm to find equivalent fractions.

Together, we generated some equivalent fractions on a number line using comparisons to

benchmark fractions. Park and Brannon (2013) found in a study that when students work with

symbols such as numbers, they are using a different area of the brain than when they work with

visual and spacial information, such as number lines and manipulatives. The researchers

additionally found that mathematics learning and performance was highest when these two areas

of the brain were communicating. Moving students from more concrete examples of fractions to

more abstract algorithms and fraction concepts seems to adhere to many math theories that avoid

direct teaching of algorithms, while acknowledging time constraints posed by standardized core

standard requirements.
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To give my students more fluency in fraction equivalence instead of confirming the rote

memorization of directly taught algorithms, I introduced them to an activity I created myself to

help them think flexibly about fractions. I asked them to imagine they were planning a garden

plot, three-fourths of which would be planted in vegetables. They diligently partitioned their

garden plots into fourth equal rows and shaded in three of those. Then I asked them to imagine

that a friend wished to share the garden plot with them. How would they divide the plot evenly

with their friend, still keeping three-fourths of it planted in vegetables?

The students struggled with the open nature of this prompt. Many students attempted to

get really creative with their garden plot arrangements, which caused some confusion and

complexities. After some struggle, however, one of my typically lower-performing students

beamed with pride and accomplishment when she was the first to finish her garden plot designs

and share her strategies with her classmates! I could almost see her synapses firing as she

struggled and her brain grew.

Mathematics is a subject that requires precise thinking. When the kinds of critical

thinking required to solve mathematical problems is combined with creativity, visualization, and

encourages flexible number sense, math learning is optimized. Teachers can create excitement

and struggle-friendly classrooms by communicating about numbers and math operations in

engaging and relevant contexts. One of the most important things we can do as math teachers is

to invite students into the dialog about math and the strategies they use, asking them about the

different ways they see and can find ways to solve problems.
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References

Boaler, J. (2017). Mindset mathematics: Grade 4. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Humphreys, Cathy & Parker, Ruth (2014). Making number talks matter: Developing

mathematical practices and deepening understanding, grades 4-10. Portland, ME:

Stenhouse.

Moser, J. S., Schroder, H. S., Heeter, C., Moran, T. P., & Lee, Y. H. (2011). Mind your errors:

Evidence for a neural mechanism linking growth mind-set to adaptive posterior

adjustments. Psychological Science, 0956797611419520.

Parish, S. (2014). Number talks: Helping children build mental math and computation strategies,

grades K-5, updated with common core connections. Math Solutions.

Park, J., & Brannon, E. (2013). Training the approximate number system improves math

proficiency. Association for Psychological Science, 1–7.

Steuer, G., Rosentritt-Brunn, G., & Dresel, M. (2013). Dealing with errors in mathematics

classrooms: Structure and relevance of perceived error climate. Contemporary

Educational Psychology, 38(3), 196-210.

Van De Walle, J.A., Karp, K.S., and Bay-Williams, J.M. (2016). Elementary and middle school

mathematics: Teaching developmentally. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.