Lesson 2

The purpose of this lesson is for students to relate equal shares to division expressions and visual representations of fractions.

In the previous lesson, students explored the relationship between fractions and division by representing situations where some people shared some sandwiches. They used informal language to describe how they knew each person got about the same amount of sandwich.

In this lesson, students recognize the relationship between a fraction and a division expression. For example, \(\frac{1}{5}\) = \(1 \div 5\). Students interpret \(1 \div 5\) as the amount in one group when a single whole is divided into 5 equal portions. They see that the quantity in that portion is \(\frac{1}{5}\) of a whole. 

• Create a set of cards from the blackline master for each group of 2.

What have you noticed about the language students use to describe the relationship between fractions and division? How can you continue to recognize and honor their authentic language and also connect it to more formal math vocabulary?