Julianna Klioze

ELED 433 Math Methods

LESSON PLAN INSTRUCTIONS
A. TITLE OF LESSON Pizza Fractions
B. CONTEXT OF LESSON
The students have recently begun their unit on fractions. They have been introduced to numerators and
denominators through their interactive notebooks. They are beginning to experiment and explore fractions
through models, and manipulatives, such as fraction rods. This lesson fits with the current stage of child
development, because it allows the students to explore fractions in a hands-on way, relating it to items they see
in their everyday life. As a pre-assessment I will write fractions on the board, and have students identify the
numerator and denominator; I will also have students name the fraction.
C. RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING
3.3 The student will
a) name and write fractions (including mixed numbers) represented by a model;
b) model fractions (including mixed numbers) and write the fractions names; and
c) compare fractions having like and unlike denominators, using words and symbols (>, <, or =).
D. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
UNDERSTAND -Students should understand that the whole must be defined, that the numerator is a
counting number that tells how many equal size parts are being considered, and understand that the
value of a fraction is dependent on both the number of parts in a whole (denominator) and the number of
those parts being considered (numerator).
KNOW - The students will know the difference in values between fractions with unlike denominators,
and know which fraction has a greater value.
DO - Students will name and write fractions, represented by a model to include halves, thirds, fourths,
eighths, tenths, and twelfths. Students will compare fractions using the terms greater than, less than, or
equal to and the symbols (<, >, and =). Comparisons are made between fractions with both like and
unlike denominators, using models, concrete materials and pictures.
E. ASSESSING LEARNING
For assessment I will give students a recording sheet where they will record the answers of fractions of the
pizza they received at each station, which I will collect at the end. The recording sheet will allow students to
compare their fractions with different denominators, allowing them to see which fractions are bigger. The
recording sheet will also allow students to compare fraction sizes, asking them which fraction of a pizza they
would prefer to have, for example: 3/6 of a pizza or 3/8 of a pizza.
F. MATERIALS NEEDED
List ALL the materials that will be needed to conduct this activity.
Mini paper pizzas cut up into equal size pieces. Each piece will have the appropriate fraction written on
it to give students more practice with seeing fractions.
Recording sheet where students can record the section of each pizza they received.

G. PROCEDURES
I will create small paper pizzas and cut them into equal pieces. I will divide the class up into four
groups, and give each group a whole pizza. There will be four stations, where the groups will rotate.
Each station will have pizzas divided into different amounts including: sixths, sevenths, eighths, and
twelfths. I will instruct the students to imagine that they are at a pizza party, and think about how many
pieces of pizza they would actually eat. I will instruct them to divide the pizza up between the group
members. After each group takes about five minutes to divide up the pizza, I will ask each group to
record their answers individually. We will complete this process until every group has gone to every
station. I will then compile the answers on the board as the students share them, and we will explore
how the answers differ from each other.
BEFORE: To activate prior knowledge, I will write fractions on the board and ask students to identify
what each number is called, pointing to the numerator and denominator, and then ask them to read the
fraction. I will do this multiple times; having students come to the board to circle the part of the fraction
I identify as additional practice. After I introduce the activity, I will ask the students if someone can
explain what they will be doing, once I receive the correct response, I will divide the students up into
their groups and pass out the pizzas, already cut up in bags. I will instruct the students to work with their
groups for about five minutes, before we rotate to the next station, eventually coming back together as a
class to share what we did. I will also introduce one of the pizzas, for example if it was a pizza broken
up into six equal pieces, I will ask, How do I write this fraction? to verify that students understand the
fraction is 1/6.
DURING: I will begin walking around and observing the students working in their groups, listening to
their conversations to see how they are thinking mathematically. If students begin asking if their answers
are correct, I will tell them that there is not a right or wrong answer for this problem. If students are
having trouble understanding the concept I will join their group to show them an example. I will also tell
them that they can work with a partner so they can learn from each other and help further understand the
concept of fractions.
AFTER: I will have each group share how they divided up their pizza amongst the group members, for
a specific pizza. As the students share, I will write the answers on the board. After I have all of the
students responses on the board, I will discuss with the class the several different ways that this problem
was solved, emphasizing that all of them are correct. I will then go into comparing numerators, and
denominators, emphasizing that when the denominator is bigger, the pieces are smaller.
H. DIFFERENTIATION
If certain groups begin to finish dividing up their pizza faster than the other groups, I will tell them to put the
pizza back together as a whole and divide it up again to get more practice, emphasizing that they share what
fraction of the pizza they have gotten. Groups working faster than others can also begin to compare fractions
with unlike denominators, discussing which fraction is larger, and which piece of pizza they would prefer to
have in a real life situation. If a student is struggling with my objectives, I will join their group and walk the
group through the process, saying everything I am thinking aloud for them to hear, in order to understand my
thinking process, guiding them to begin thinking similarly. I will continue this process until the group begins to
understand on their own. I will also stay with the group without modeling my thinking to make sure they are
understanding the process, and I will give them pointers along the way, such as: you have 2 pieces, and there are
6 pieces total, how much of the whole pizza do you have?

I. NCTM STANDARDS
I met the NCTM standard of problem solving by giving the students the cut up pizzas in different fractions
including sixths, sevenths, eighths, and twelfths and instructing them to divide up the pizza amongst the group
members. When the students asked how many each student should receive, I instructed them that there was no
correct answer. I did not instruct the students how to divide up the pizzas. This allowed the students to explore
fractions, comparing different numerators and the portion of the pizza that the numerator represents. The
students also distributed the pizza in a variety of ways, without my instruction. Several times students grabbed
as many pieces as they could, other times they distributed the pizza equally. After the group was finished
dividing up each pizza and recording their answers, they compared what portion of the pizza everyone received,
allowing them to see how a fraction relates to portions of the pizza, and what the numerator represents. For
reasoning and proof was shown when students began to realize that the bigger the numerator, the larger the
portion of the pizza they would receive, because the denominator remained the same. They were able to explain
this through words, as well as showing the physical pieces of pizza, visualizing that 2/6 of a pizza was less than
4/6 of a pizza. Communication was demonstrated as the groups discussed how they would divide up the pizza,
as well as after they had divided up the pizza, discussing that some group members had more pizza than they
did. Students also communicated their results on paper, by writing the fraction of the pizza that they received on
their recording sheet. After the groups had finished dividing up all of the pizzas and recording their results, they
communicated as a class with me, discussing the relationship between the numerator and the denominator,
explaining that the larger the numerator, the larger portion of the pizza you have. Students were able to make
real world connections since they were using fake pizzas to represent the fractions. Students connected dividing
up the pizzas to their experiences at pizza parties, where they had to share pizza with other guests. Students also
used their prior knowledge about numbers, to help identify that the larger numerator represented the larger
portion of the pizza. The whole lesson revolved around representation, as the students were given physical
objects that they are familiar with to represent the fractions. Using pizza to model fractions used a real-life
situation that they have encountered before. As the students were dividing up the pizzas, I instructed them to
pretend as if they were at a pizza party sharing pizza with their friends.

Pizza Fractions
Name:_______________________

Piece or Fraction of Pizza You Chose

1
6

1
6

1
6

1
6

1
7

1
7

2
7

2
7

1
8

3
8

0
8

2
8

1
12

4
12

1
12

3
12

(Example of chart, I put in three examples of students work that I collected)