From the Wall Street Journal on October 2, 2013. Read the whole article, but here are a few highlights.
Many students cruise along just fine in math until fourth grade or so. Then, they hit a wall— fractions.
The wall is about to get taller. With mastery of the topic seen as a crucial stepping stone to progressing in math, federal standards are stepping up emphasis on fractions starting in third grade. National tests show nearly half of eighth-graders aren't able to put three fractions in order by size.
The key is lines and not pies. Robert Bennin, our iMentorCorps resident math guru, hit on this a few months ago. He and the team prepared the video below. Don't worry about the 'iMentorCorps Confidential' title at the beginning. We're working on a new series of videos, so you're getting a sneak peek into some of our latest work.
The Wall Street Journal article noticed this as well.
Ryan Spence, a technology-integration specialist for Propel Schools, a charter-school operator based in Pittsburgh, says fourth-graders can learn the basics quickly by playing a computer game with number lines, Battleship Numberline...Lines, not pies. Sound simple? It helps students better grasp the important concept of fractions.
Let us know what you think of our approach.
