Student Created Math Posters

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My students have been really struggling with adding and subtracting fractions with different denominators. I did a math talk with them and realized that many students lack a foundational understanding of what a fraction means and struggle with multiplication/division facts. I have been working with students in small groups and spent over 2 weeks teaching equivalent fractions, listing out multiples, etc. I was feeling defeated most of this week- I had tried lots of different teaching strategies but none seemed to be working. As a teacher its easy to feel like you've let the kids who just can't seem to get it down- I felt especially like this and tired because of back to school nights and just getting back into the 1st month of school routine.
BUT THEN...
On Friday- I reached out to our ITCL and admin and we talked about different strategies we could implement to support kids who lack a basic understanding of fractions. I decided to help each student create their own fraction bars so they could have a physical manipulative to use. I also asked table groups of students to make a poster than explained how to add or subtract fractions with different denominators and write down steps that a 4th grader could understand. Each table group did a fantastic job and students wrote/drew explanations that were written in kid friendly language. The groups helped their peers who were still learning how to add/subtract fractions and a kid who has been struggling the most was able to sing (yes, sing) me through how she would solve the problem!
My teacher heart was so proud and happy. I tore down all the posters I had made and replaced them with the beautiful and brilliant student work below.




Here are some of my other favorite resources for teaching 5th graders how to add/subtract fractions with unlike denominators:



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