A great introduction to the concepts of fractions. The book gives an easy to understand the definition of fractions. The book then uses real-life examples to understand the concept of fractions. The book then goes over how to compare, add, and subtract fractions. I think this is a great book to introduce fractions. I will use this book with my son to introduce fractions to him. The pictures added to the text to make the concepts clear and they are also colorful and attractive. If you are looking for an in-depth understanding of fractions the book will not offer that, but just a basic understand of the concepts the book will help you. I also would suggest a follow-up activity such as making fractions or seeking out fractions in everyday life. ( )

In my opinion this was a great book to aid in teaching fractions to children. This is because it provides visual text features, clear, direct language, and illustrations that enhance the story. The visual aids are helpful for students who may not comprehend math vocabulary or for those who are more visual than conceptual. For example, when comparing how large and small fractions are, the illustrator bolds and increase the font size of the words. If the denominator is bigger than the numerator. The word “denominator” would be bigger than the word numerator. This is a great text features to help students understand the challenging concept of fractions. Another example of this is when a new word is introduced in the book. The new word will be bolded or a different color than the rest to show its importance. Adler uses clear, direct language that highlights the key factors of fractions without adding any unnecessary descriptions. This helps the students focus on the subject rather than having to decipher through large paragraphs. An example of this is, “the larger the top number of a fraction—the larger the numerator—the larger the fraction when the denominators, the bottom numbers, are the same.” There is no “fluff” to distract the students from fractions. Another aspect of the language that is good for students, is that Adler uses examples that children can relate to. It captures there attention because they do or use those things everyday. For example, he uses a birthday party to introduce fractions. He uses balloons, pizza, musical chairs, and cake to explain different fractions. All of these items are used by the students. This makes the fractions less scary because they are familiar with the items. Adler also uses repetitive language to get his idea across. For example, “A fraction is a part of something.” is repeated constantly throughout the book to reinforce the meaning of a fraction. This is helpful for students because they are constantly seeing the words and their meanings. Lastly, the illustrations make a dull subject, fun and colorful. It keeps the children engaged especially if they find the subject challenging.

This book shows the many ways fractions can work in everyday lives. I enjoyed this book because when taking math the question is always asked when are we ever going to use this, and here are some example.

Teaching Ideas: intro to a lesson on fractions

Working With Fractions by David Adler is a good book to use when introducing students to fractions. The book shows children how fractions are used in their everyday lives. The book is set a children's birthday party, the author shows how the food, games, and the number of children at the party can be represented by a fraction. The book also does a good job of introducing students to fraction vocabulary words such as numerator and denominator. The images are colorful and creative, which makes the book more interesting. The only draw-back of the book is that it is long and it is sometimes wordy. ( )

This book was ok. It was very good and explaining and giving definition of words to do with fractions. But it was not very fun, interesting, or intriguing. The idea of the book was interesting but it was carried out the wrong way. It talked about how we see fractions at a birthday party and everywhere. The diction and wording of the book was very wordy and a mouth full. It repeated the same words and phrases over and over again, almost too much to where it began repetitive and boring. I used this book during my EDUC math lesson plan and only read half of it because I think I would have lost the class if I read the whole book. Great for information, executed poorly for interest. ( )