Hexa Fraction
Age group
- Junior/Intermediate (Age 9 to 12)
Curriculum Goal
Junior: Number Sense
Represent fractions from halves to tenths using drawings, tools, and standard fractional notation, and explain the meanings of the denominator and the numerator.
Related Links
Context
Children should be familiar with different area models for representing fractions.
Materials
In-person version
- Game board ()
- Fraction cards ()
- Pattern blocks (Trapezoid, Rhombus and Triangle only)
- Blank paper to tally points
- Instructional Slideshow ()
Online version
- ()
- Instructional Slideshow ()
Lesson
- The objective of the game is for the children to claim the most hexagons on the board by filling them in with pattern blocks. If a child fills in a hexagon on their turn, they claim that hexagon and earn one point.
- Each child will keep track of their points by tallying them on a piece of paper.
- In the online version, each child is assigned a point counter on the game board with their name.
- Children take turns drawing one fraction card from the deck.
- Reuse the cards when all have been drawn. Consider printing more than one copy of Appendix B to create a larger deck of cards.
- Once the child has drawn a card, they select one or more pattern blocks that represent the fraction on the card and place them in a hexagon(s).
- E.g., if a child draws the 1/2 card, they can use any combination of pattern blocks (i.e., 3 triangles; 1 parallelogram and 1 triangle; or 1 trapezoid) to fill in half of any of the hexagons.
- Children can also choose to divide their fraction amongst the hexagons.
- E.g., if a child draws 1/2, they can place three triangles in one hexagon OR place two triangles in one hexagon and one triangle in another hexagon, as 3 triangles make up half of a hexagon.
- Children may occasionally draw special cards Each one affects gameplay in a different way. When one of these cards is drawn, the player must play it immediately, after which they draw another card.
- The switch card changes the turn order so the turn goes to the player who played before the current one, and the order of play continues in that new direction.
- When a block card is in play, no other players can place their pieces on the chosen hexagon until the blocking players next turn. When activated the card is placed directly on top of the hexagon being blocked. The skip card skips the turn of the next child.
- The child who places the last piece in a hexagon claims that hexagon and earns one point.
- The game ends when all the hexagons are filled in. The child with the most points at the end of the round wins.
Look Fors
- Are the children able to match their fraction cards to the equivalent pattern blocks?
- Do the children use equivalent fractions to maximize their chances of claiming a hexagon?
- E.g., when a child draws a 1/2 fraction card, do they use three triangle pattern blocks and divide it up amongst the hexagons if this allows them to claim a hexagon versus using one trapezoid pattern block?