This hands-on workshop immerses teachers in the core fraction , with a strong focus on sense-making, representations, and student thinking as emphasized in the NYSED Numeracy Briefs. Participants spend the majority of the session solving carefully selected fraction problems, analyzing multiple strategies, and examining common misconceptions that often persist into later grades.
The work centers on unit fractions, the meaning of the whole, fractions as numbers on the number line, equivalence, comparison, and fraction operations, using visual and contextual models rather than rules or shortcuts. Teachers will explore how these ideas develop across Grades 3-5 and how instructional choices can either support or undermine students' long-term understanding.
Throughout the workshop, participants will:
- Engage in high-quality fraction tasks aligned to grade-level expectations
- Use number lines and area models to reason about fraction size, equivalence, and operations
- Analyze student responses to identify underlying thinking, not just errors
- Connect representations and language to the mathematical progressions highlighted in the Numeracy Briefs
Teachers will leave with classroom-ready problems, a clearer picture of what strong fraction understanding looks like, and concrete strategies for supporting students beyond procedural tricks.