Lesson Plan Template- Fractions- Grade 3
Curriculum Expectations:
Lesson by: Lillian Papel
Overall: read, represent, compare, and order whole numbers to 1000, and use
concrete materials to represent fractions.
Specific: divide whole objects and sets of objects into equal parts, and identify the
parts using fractional names (e.g., one half; three thirds; two fourths or two quarters),
without using numbers in standard fractional notation;
Task/Problem
To use diagrams or manipulatives to
problem solve and investigate the
relationships between various parts and
wholes.
Learning Goal:
- I will be able to divide pizzas into
equal parts and identify the slices
using fractional names.
Part 1 Before, Minds On or
Activate Prior Knowledge
Duration: 15mins
Student Success Criteria:
-
Remind the students of our read aloud
from earlier that morning. “The Lion’s
Share”. If the lion shared his cake with only
the ant and the hippo, what fraction of
cake would each animal get? Explain your
thinking.
Questions:
What strategy will you use to help you
solve the problem?
How will you know that the lion has shared
his cake fairly?
Could the cake be equally shared with a
different number of animals?
What fraction of the cake was left over
after the lion took his share?
How do you make sure everyone gets an
equal part when dividing a whole into
fractions?
Part 2- During, Work on It or Hands On
Duration: 20mins
The beetle decided to bake two pizza’s for
the lion’s party. After the party, one-sixth of
a large cheese pizza remained, and oneeighth of a large veggie pizza was
leftover. Which pizza had more leftover?
-
-
I know that fair share means
everyone gets an equal share or
the same amount when dividing a
whole.
I can represent and use fractions to
describe parts of a whole.
I can use diagrams to
communicate about fractions.
I can apply strategies to solve the
problem (ex. divide the pizza into
equal parts using manipulatives or
pictures; use array models)
I am able to show and explain my
mathematical thinking. (using
fractional names- i.e two fourths;
division, fair share, equal size
groups, equally)
Strategies:


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Make a picture
Use a manipulative ( cut out paper
strips/ use fraction towers)
Divide the pizza into fractions (using
pizza fraction fun kit)
Use array model
Questions:
How did you solve the problem?
What strategy will you use?
What do you notice about the size of
each fraction?
What is the fraction that names each
piece?
Is there more than one solution?
Tools:

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
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Part 3 – After, Consolidation, Congress,
Bansho or Gallery Walk
Duration: 15mins
Misconceptions:
 Does not understand the
concept of fair share.
 Does not make equal size
groups
 Has not yet mastered addition
or subtraction facts
 The student does not
understand the importance of
the whole in describing a
fraction.
 The student does not pay
attention to the need for all
parts to be equal when talking
about parts of a region.
Math Congress – highlight 3 chosen pieces
of work to show strategies for solving the
problem
I would use the classroom Ipad to take
photos of students work and project it
onto the smart board to make it easier for
students to observe and compare each
other’s work.
Congress Questions:
How do you know that the cheese pizza
had more leftover?
What fraction of the whole veggie pizza
was eaten?
What fraction of the whole cheese pizza
was eaten? How do you know?
Manipulatives
-paper strips
-fraction towers
-pizza fraction fun kit
Paper/pencil/markers
Manipulatives
Construction paper
Scissors
The Lion’s Share
Title
The Lion’s Share
Author
Matthew McElligott
Publisher
Walker Publishing
Company, Inc.
Curriculum Expectations Overall:
Grade 3: read, represent, compare, and order whole numbers to 1000, and use
concrete materials to represent fractions.
Specific:
Grade 3: divide whole objects and sets of objects into equal parts, and identify
the parts using fractional names (e.g., one half; three thirds; two fourths or two
quarters), without using numbers in standard fractional notation;
Concept: I will be able to divide whole objects into equal parts, and identify the
parts using fractional names (e.g., one half; three thirds; two fourths or two
quarters).
The book The Lion’s Share is a great book that gets students excited about
learning fractions and doubling. The story is about an ant that gets a special
dinner invitation from the lion, who has organized a spring celebration. This is the
first time the ant dines with the lion and is quite nervous. In order to make a
good impression she arrives exactly on time and is well mannered at the dinner.
The other animals all arrive late and do not mind their manners. At the dinner,
the lion brought out a cake for dessert and each animal, starting with the
elephant, took one half of the remaining cake as it was passed around. (1,
½,¼,⅛, etc.) By the time the cake reaches the ant, she is only left with crumbs
and chooses to share those crumbs with the lion. Embarrassed and ashamed,
the ant apologizes to the lion and offers to bake him another cake. The other
animals overhear the ants’ conversation and want to outdo her. All the other
animals offer to bake twice as many cakes as the next. (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, etc.)
This did not turn out to be a good idea. The following day the ant delivered her
cake to the lion and they shared it equally amongst each other.
This picture book is a rich text for students in a variety of grade levels. It poses
several rich math problems. The book is divided into two parts, and both parts
present a different math problem. The first half of the book focuses on halving
and the second half on doubling. The first half uses vocabulary such as “half”
and “quarter” and helps students understand that the more fractional parts
used to make a whole, the smaller the parts. For example, eights are smaller
than fourths. The illustrations on the inside cover are helpful because students
can see where the lions cake has been separated into fractional parts. The
illustration shows students that a fraction is part of a whole. The second half of
the book focuses on doubling and how numbers are increasing every time
another animal decides they also want to bake cakes. This can also be
extended for higher grades by changing the common ratio and multiplying
each number by 3, 4, etc. instead of doubling. The book provides good
illustrations on depicting the quantity increase each time and the numbers in
word form.
Introduce the Book:
Duration: 45 minutes
“The Lion’s Share” is a great book to get students engaged in learning about
fractions. As an introduction to the book, I will show them the front cover and
ask them “what does it mean to share?” Students will discuss their answers. I will
ask for a student volunteer to come up to the front of the class and “share” a
matzo cracker with them. Instead of sharing the matzo cracker equally, I will
give the student I smaller fraction. Then I will ask students “Have I shared the
matzo cracker fairly with X student? Why or why not? How do you know?” This
will generate a discussion. (No, it wasn’t fair because it wasn’t shared equally;
the parts were not of equal size, etc.) Then I would ask “How can I share the
matzo cracker with X student so that we each get the same amount? What
does half mean? What if four people wanted to share the matzo cracker
equally? Into how many pieces would I need to cut the cracker? What is the
fraction that names each piece? (one quarter or one fourth) Is a quarter bigger
or smaller than a half? How do you know?”
I would begin reading the book and stop on page 7. I would ask students “Can
you remember a time when you had to share something that was whole with a
friend?” At this point it is important that students are aware of what the definition
of whole is. I would then engage students in a discussion of nonstandard ways
they have used fractions on a daily basis. (ex. dividing snacks in half; sharing a
pizza with their family, etc.) On chart paper I would record some responses. I
would then continue reading and stop at page 10 and ask “What do you notice
about the size of the pieces of cake as each animal takes a piece? What do
you think may happen next?” Students would discuss how the pieces are
getting smaller each time an animal takes half. I would then continue reading
and stop at page 11. At this point of the story the animals have all taken their
share of the cake and the ant is left with the crumbs. I would ask: “Do you think
the animals shared the lion’s cake fairly? How could the animals have shared
the lion’s cake equally?” and then a follow up question: “How would you know
that the pieces are equal?” Students would discuss that the whole (cake) would
have needed to be divided into parts of equal size. At this point I would also reenforce the concept that fractions are parts of a whole and use this vocabulary
with students. (one fourth, thirds, fifths, etc.) I would ask “Since there are ten
animals in the story, how many equal sized pieces would we need to divide the
lion’s cake into? What if there were only four animals? Would the fractions be
the same size?”
Finally, I could either stop reading the story at page 14 or continue reading until
the end. If I continued reading the story I would ask a few more questions about
the second half (example, “what pattern do you notice?”) but because the
primary focus is having students work on the concept of the first half then I
would not go into many details.(about doubling)