Students learn fractions much earlier than the average person expects. In today’s American education system, children are officially introduced to fractions in first grade. Children use fractions frequently in everyday life and in academics too. A website called, “Math Warehouse Lesson Plans,” provides a lesson plan about teaching fractions to first graders. This lesson plan can easily relate to an article written by the National Counsel of Teachers called, “Common Core brief: The fraction progression.” The lesson begins with the teacher holding two apples in front of the class. She asks them, “I want to divide these apples between two students, how many apples does each student get?” The students will reply by saying each child gets one apple.
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These examples were both skill problems and application problems. The first skill problem was when the students split the rectangle in halves and quarters. This rectangle is just a shape to students and they are not comparing it to other rectangular shapes around the classroom. The second skill problem was when the students formed their Play Dough into a lump. This is a skill-based example, because the students are focusing on the skill of splitting an object and not applying it to the real world. Next, the first skill-based problem was when the teacher showed the students an object that looks like a pizza and the students mimic the shape with their Play Dough. The students relate this pizza to the real world by thinking about sharing a pizza with their family for dinner. The teacher demonstrated the second skill-based example. This was when the teacher had two apples and shared one whole apple with two students. Then, the class had to split one apple between two students. The last part of this example was when the class decided to cut the apple into quarters to split the apple equally between four students. This is an application problem because the students are applying fractions to the real world by thinking about how they would share the apple in this
These examples were both skill problems and application problems. The first skill problem was when the students split the rectangle in halves and quarters. This rectangle is just a shape to students and they are not comparing it to other rectangular shapes around the classroom. The second skill problem was when the students formed their Play Dough into a lump. This is a skill-based example, because the students are focusing on the skill of splitting an object and not applying it to the real world. Next, the first skill-based problem was when the teacher showed the students an object that looks like a pizza and the students mimic the shape with their Play Dough. The students relate this pizza to the real world by thinking about sharing a pizza with their family for dinner. The teacher demonstrated the second skill-based example. This was when the teacher had two apples and shared one whole apple with two students. Then, the class had to split one apple between two students. The last part of this example was when the class decided to cut the apple into quarters to split the apple equally between four students. This is an application problem because the students are applying fractions to the real world by thinking about how they would share the apple in this