Fraction Strips Vs Circles.

 

This past year, I had to teach a 7th grader fractions because he had absolutely no idea how they worked but he could do it on the calculator as long as the calculator had the "right" buttons.  I had him use the fraction strips rather than the circles but I wonder if I made a mistake in not having him use the fraction circle pieces.  So today, I'm looking at the two choices to see if one is better than the other or if I should have had him do both.

As you know fraction manipulatives are great for showing how many pieces equal one, for showing students that each fraction is equal, for equivalents, comparing, adding, subtracting, multiplication, division and so much more.  

If you've never used them, fraction strips or bars are strips that are used to represent the fractions and are straight whereas the fraction circles are like a pizza that is cut into various sets.  Either way, having students use manipulatives is a good way to determine if they understand the concept.  There is research out there that says if they cannot model fractions, they are lacking in understanding the concept. In addition, these manipulatives do not inherently give them the concept but they help facilitate understanding.

In general, circle manipulatives are used in the lower elementary grades and referred to as a pizza or a pie.  Although there is no definitive conclusion that these are the best to use because it depends on the way they are used: it was concluded that circle manipulatives are the most effective to help students form a visual picture of fraction.

On the other hand, the use of a fraction wall which is a static representation of fraction strips from one to twelfths is not as good as using the individual strips.  Having said that, it is good for students learning about the inverse relationships between the denominator and size of the fractions but they did not get a good understanding of the numerator and how it works. 

As far as fraction strips, these are considered better for physically comparing fractions.  These allow the students to physically line fractions up, one set on top and a different set on the bottom which is extremely difficult to do with fraction circles.  In addition, the strips allow students to see the lengths for each set of fractions get smaller as the whole is divided into more and more pieces.  

It sounds like the choice of strips versus circles depends on what age being taught and the purpose behind the use of manipulatives.  One thing did come out in researching this topic, although many classrooms have sets of pattern blocks, these are not considered the best ones to use to teach fractions because the shapes are all different whereas when using strips or circles, the shapes are the same for all fractions, just have different sizes.  

On Friday, we'll look at the differences between real life and virtual/digital manipulatives.  With many schools giving their students computers or tablets, it is often easier to put them online rather than facing the possibility of losing pieces.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.