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4th Grade: Subtracting Fractions

• Title of the book(s) to be used:
Fraction Fun by David A. Adler
Polar Bear Math by Ann Nagda and Cindy Bickel

• Other Materials (for activities)
Glue stick, pencil with eraser, ruler, stickers, dry erase board, dry erase markers

• TEKS Objectives: §111.16. Mathematics, Grade 4.
• The student will construct concrete models of fractions, compare fractional parts of whole objects or sets of objects in a problem situation using concrete models, use fraction names and symbols to describe fractional parts of whole objects or sets of objects, and construct concrete models of equivalent fractions for fractional parts of whole objects.

• Procedure:
a. Warm-up Activities:
• The student will read Fraction Fun by David A. Adler.
• The student will then look through Polar Bear Math by Ann Nagda and Cindy Bickel.
• I will have the student review what they learned about adding fractions the week before by having them play Adding Fractions Tic-Tac-Toe.

b. Main Activities:
• For the first activity, Su Lin’s Subtracting Fractions with the Same Denominator. My student will subtract the fractions that have the same denominator. They will pick two fractions from the same denominator oriental take out box glue them to the worksheet and solve the problem.
• For the second activity, Zhen Zhen’s Subtracting Fractions with Different Denominators. My student will subtract the fractions that have different denominators. They will pick two fractions from the different denominator oriental take out box glue them to the worksheet and solve the problem.
• I will try to teach my student how to use chop sticks, so they can pick up the fractions using the chop sticks.
• For a fun treat, I will give my student two fortune cookies. They will get to glue their fortunes into their Fraction Journal.

c. Follow-up Activity:
• As a follow-up activity, I will have the student fill out their Fraction Journal. The student will write what they learned about subtracting fractions.

d. Assessment:
• To assess my student’s understanding, I will use the game Polar Math. I will play the game with the student. The student will go first and draw a math card. The math card will have a fraction subtraction problem. If the student answers the subtraction problem correctly they will get move their polar bear as many icebergs as the math card says to move. Then it will be my turn to go. I will have to draw a math card, answer a subtraction problem as well, and move my polar bear as many spaces as the card says to move.

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