Workshop: Multiply and Divide Fractions

Address Common Misconceptions. Begin the lesson by directing students to the Workshop: Multiply and Divide Fractions pages in the Student Guide. Read the short vignette together. Fern and Mara are talking about their experiences with multiplying and dividing fractions. Some common misconceptions and areas of misunderstanding are addressed in Questions 1–4. Ask students to discuss Question 1 with a partner and then compare addition of fractions to multiplication of fractions as a class.

Assign Self-Check: Questions 2–4 for students to complete individually. Instruct students to read the short explanation that precedes each question. These questions serve two purposes. First, they clearly communicate the content of the related targeted practice to students. Second, they help students quickly self-assess their progress with Expectations to help them choose which problems to work on in the Workshop.

Compare Multiplication and Division Strategies. When students have finished, ask them to demonstrate the strategies they used to multiply the fractions found in Question 2A, 1/3 × 3/4 . List examples of the variety of multiplication strategies they use on chart paper. Display the chart.

Display and direct students' attention to the Multiplying Fractions Menu in the Student Guide Reference section. See Figure 1. Ask them to compare the strategies found on the Menu to those they have listed on chart paper.

Next, ask students to demonstrate the strategies they used to divide the fractions found in Questions 3–4, 5 ÷ 1/3 and 1/4 ÷ 3. List examples of the variety of division strategies they use on another sheet of chart paper and display the chart.

Display and direct students' attention to the Dividing Fractions Menu in the Student Guide Reference section. See Figure 2.

Encourage students to use the Multiplying Fractions Menu, Dividing Fractions Menu, and the strategies displayed on the class charts as they solve the problems in the Workshop.