Fraction Letter

Hey Teachers!

SAVE ink – do not print this page!

Below please find a couple of letters for your to adapt to your own uses or print and send! These letters inform caretakers and specialist teachers how to help their students learn about fractions.

Enjoy
Isabelle

Dear Caretakers,

We are starting an exciting new topic in math class; fractions! Your students will be naming, comparing, adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions. Understanding fractions is an important concept which is essential for your student’s success in math.

Here are some ways you can help at home:

Let your child help in the kitchen. Even simple recipes involve measuring ingredients. When students use cups and other standard kitchen measures, they are learning about fractions. They see that it takes two ½ cups to fill one whole cup, or two 1/4 teaspoons to equal one half teaspoon. Cooking is a fantastic way to help your students learn more about fractions.

Mealtime provides another opportunity to talk with your students about fractions. Dividing apples, oranges, sandwiches, and other items into equal portions lets your student practice making fractions and thinking about equivalencies.

If your family speaks a language other than English at home, please help them learn vocabulary associated with fractions in other languages with which your student is familiar. Words such as numerator, denominator, half, third, and fourth are some of the key fraction vocabulary that your students will be learning at school. https://www.khanacademy.org/ has more information for families interested in learning more about fractions.

Look for everyday opportunities to talk about fractions with your student. Have they read half the pages in their book? Will they need a quarter of an hour to finish their homework? Make the most of every chance to use the vocabulary of fractions at home.

Please let me know if you have questions or comments about how you can help your student’s academic success.

Thank you,

Dear Music Teacher,

Students in my class will be learning about fractions in the coming weeks. As you know there is a strong connection between music and math. This would be the perfect time to teach our students about musical elements that connect with fractions.

One example of the connection between music and fractions can be found when counting measures of 4/4 time. The whole note is four beats. Then there are half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes, and sixteenth notes. Playing with various rhythms allow children to explore fractions in a fun and unique way. Singing twice as fast or half as slow would be another way to help our students learn about fractions.

There are lesson plans for pitch and fractions, ratio and proportions, and more that show how to mix music and math.

So, whenever you find a connection between music and fractions, please feel free to bring it to the attention of our students.

Thank you

Dear Art Teacher,

Students in my class will be learning about fractions in the coming weeks. As you know there is a strong connection between art and math. This would be the perfect time to teach our students about artistic elements that connect with fractions.

There are lesson plans online for many age levels and topics. Some of my favorites are Mondrian and equivalent fractions, color mixing, and using fractional pieces to create visual images.

Art can also help students explore ratios, scale, and the relationship between motifs in art & simplifying fractions. Sometimes there are parts of math that are as beautiful as art such as images of the Farey sequence.

So, whenever you find a connection between art and fractions, please feel free to bring it to the attention of our students. Keep me posted and let me know if I can help.

Thank you,