Using Recipes to Reinforce Fractions
Concepts Covered:
fractions
Sunshine State Standards:
MA.6.A.1.2MA.6.A.1.3
Materials for each group:
chart paper
markers
pancake recipes
Student Arrangement:
Cooperative groups of 4-5 studentsProcedure:
Day 1
- Read books with recipes
to students. Cucumber Soup by Vickie Leigh Krudwig, The Seven
Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hobermann and Cook-a-Doodle-Doo
by Janet Stevens were used for this lesson.
- Have students take the recipe from the end of Cucumber Soup and check to see if there are enough ingredients to make enough cucumber soup for the whole class.
- These calculations can be
made in the following ways:
use a function table to calculate how much the recipe would have to be increased or
divide the number that could be fed by the number of students in the class. - Write the new recipe on the chart paper provided.
- Have each group choose a person to present their recipe.
- Assess students as part
of group presentation
Day 2
- Have students identify terms
that were discovered in the literature selections such as
- cooking terms(mix, stir, whisk)
- fractions
- measurement
- measuring tools (cup, teaspoon, tablespoon)
- patterns from the books read so far.
- Using the strawberry shortcake recipe from Cook-a-Doodle-Doo, increase it to feed the entire class.
- Circulate around the room, listening for any difficulties.
- Give each group a different pancake recipe. Because each recipe serves a different number of people. Groups must work together to come up with appropriate amounts of each ingredient that would probably be different than every other group in the room.
- Have the students write the recipes on chart paper to be shared with the class.
Assessment:
Have each group make a presentation to the class explaining how and what they did to increase the recipe they were given so that they would have the correct amount of ingredients to make their pancakes for the whole class. This gives the teacher an instant opportunity to assess accuracy as well as straighten out misconceptions.
Closure:
Ask each student to reflect on the relevance of these kinds of tasks by writing what he/she learned in math class today. Have students share what they wrote, first in their individual groups, then have several students volunteer to read their entries to the class.