Part 2: Identify or Create Centers for Fraction Addition and/or Subtraction
***This is your Module Assessment. You must complete this part of the assignment
independently.
Your Plan for Centers/Stations
Consider how you would implement centers or stations in your future classroom. Write a 1-2
paragraph reflection about your key takeaways from your PLC work today and how you plan to
implement centers or stations (if at all) in your future classroom.
- My biggest takeaway was the amount of planning and thought that needs to go into it
BEFORE you even introduce centers to your students. Staying organized and
establishing clear expectations, even modeling and practicing certain procedures and
behaviors, is CRUCIAL to successful centers. I also loved the tip of not having a teacher
station the first few times so you’re free to walk around and make sure your expectations
for centers are being met. I plan to use centers or stations in many different subjects
because I believe the peer work and student-led exploration
Create or Find Centers
Select a 4th, 5th, or 6th-grade fraction addition or subtraction standard. Identify or Create 4
centers for that standard. You could find games, technology-based activities, independent work,
guided math activities, or other quick activities students can do in small groups.
For each of your 4 activities, describe the activity, explain how it aligns with the standard, and
justify your choice to include it as a center.
Bring one of your activities to class next week to share with your PLC.
Standard 4.NF.3
Understand a fraction a/b with a >1 as a sum of fractions 1/b. In other words, any fraction is a
sum of unit fractions.
a. Understand addition and subtraction of fractions as joining and separating parts referring
to the same whole.
Center 1: Fraction Bar Stacking
Objective: Help students understand fraction addition as joining parts of the same whole and
subtraction as separating parts of the same whole.
Materials:
● Fraction bars (pre-made or printable) in increments of ½, ⅓, ¼, ⅕, etc.
● Scissors
● Small plastic cups (optional) to "hold" the fractions visually
Activity:
1. Joining Parts (Addition): Provide students with a set of fraction bars. Ask them to
combine two or more bars to represent a sum. For example, if the problem is ¼ + 2/4,
students will take the ¼ and 2/4 bars and "stack" them to show that together they make
¾.
Task: Have students write an equation for the fractions they added and explain how the
parts combine to make the whole.
2. Separating Parts (Subtraction): For subtraction, students will start with a whole bar and
remove a fraction to show the remaining part. For example, if the problem is 1 - ¼,
students will start with a whole bar and physically separate the ¼ part, leaving them with
¾.
Task: Have students write an equation for the subtraction and explain how they removed
part of the whole.
Rationale: This activity allows students to visualize the addition and subtraction of unit fractions
using concrete models. Being able to manipulate the fraction bars reinforces the idea of putting
fractions together to make a whole and taking away fractions from the whole. It also introduces
the importance of having a common denominator when performing these operations with
fractions.
Center 2: Fraction Pizza Party
Objective: Use visual models to reinforce the concept of adding and subtracting fractions as
combining and separating parts of a whole.
Materials:
● Paper plates (representing pizzas)
● Crayons or markers
● Scissors
Activity:
1. Addition as Joining: Give each student a paper plate and divide it into parts (e.g., halves,
thirds, or fourths). The student will then color part of the plate to represent a fraction. For
example, if the task is to add ¼ + 2/4, they would color ¼ and then color an additional
2/4, joining the colored parts to show the sum.
Task: Ask students to write an equation and explain how they joined the parts of the
pizza to make a whole or a fraction of a whole.
2. Subtraction as Separating: For subtraction, students will start with a fully colored pizza
(representing 1 whole) and then "cut out" part of the pizza to represent subtraction. For
example, if the problem is 1 - ⅓, the student will color the pizza and then cut out ⅓,
showing what remains.
Task: Have students write an equation for the subtraction and explain how they
separated the part of the pizza.
Rationale: This activity is similar to the fraction bar station, but I love it because it shows the kids
another way to view and work with fractions. We want to make sure our students are exposed to
different ways of modeling and visualizing fractions, so it’s important that I have stations with
both fraction bars and pizza models.
Center 3: Fraction Number Line Jump
Objective: Reinforce fraction addition and subtraction as movements along a number line, either
joining or separating parts of the same whole.
Materials:
● Large number line (can be drawn on butcher paper or use a pre-made one)
● Small markers or tokens for students to "jump" along the number line
● Index cards with fraction addition and subtraction problems
Activity:
1. Jumping for Addition: Provide students with a number line that goes from 0 to 1 (or 0 to 2
if you’re using improper fractions). For an addition problem like ¼ + 2/4, students will
start at 0, make a jump of ¼, and then another jump of 2/4, landing on ¾.
Task: Have students use tokens or markers to jump along the number line for each part
of the addition, and write an equation to show their work.
2. Jumping for Subtraction: For subtraction problems, students will start at a fraction and
"jump backward" to subtract a fraction. For example, for ¾ - ¼, students will start at ¾
and jump back ¼, landing on 2/4.
Task: Students will write an equation for the subtraction problem and explain how
moving backward along the number line shows separating parts of the whole.
Rationale: This station provides yet another way to visualize and conceptualize the idea of
fractions. Students should already be familiar with using a number line to perform addition and
subtraction operations, but now we’re introducing the idea of being able to add and subtract
numbers that are less than one.
Center 4: Fraction Word Problem with Manipulatives
Objective: Solve word problems involving fraction addition and subtraction, focusing on the idea
of joining and separating parts of the same whole.
Materials:
● Small objects (e.g., beads, buttons, or counting cubes)
● Small containers or trays
● Fraction cards (showing fractions like 12\frac{1}{2}21, 13\frac{1}{3}31, 14\frac{1}{4}41,
etc.)
● Whiteboards or paper and markers
Activity:
1. Addition (Joining): Present a word problem like: "You have ⅓ of a bag of marbles, and
your friend gives you ⅔ more. How many marbles do you have now?" Students will use
objects (e.g., ⅓ of a bag of marbles) to represent each fraction, then combine them to
show the total.
Task: Have students physically join the two sets of marbles (representing the two
fractions), and then write the equation ⅓ + ⅔ = 1 on their whiteboards.
2. Subtraction (Separating): Present a word problem like: "You have ¾ of a chocolate bar,
and you eat ¼. How much chocolate is left?" Students will start with ¾ (using objects)
and remove ¼ to show the remaining part.
Task: Have students physically separate the objects representing ¼ and write the
equation ¾ - ¼ = 2/4on their whiteboards.
Rationale: Finally, we introduce students to simple word problems involving the operations. The
important thing here is to be prepared to ask students “what operation do we need to perform?”
Many students struggle with word problems because they get stuck on the words and it can be
hard for them to understand the math beyond the story. But I think this is a valuable activity,
especially with the use of manipulatives so they’re able to create concrete models and
representations of what’s happening in the word problem, and solve for the answer.
Resource: chatgpt
