3 Great Ways to Engage Your Students In Learning Fraction Multiplication

Are you teaching fraction multiplication? Check out this project-based learning project to skyrocket your math lesson!

When your students are working on a project, do you notice that time flies by, your students actually talk about what they’re doing (rather than video games, sports, music, or some other random hot topic), and you hear them asking, “Can we work on our project today?” This has been my experience, whether I am working with preschoolers or 5th graders (or any age in between).

I am a HUGE fan of project-based learning and have implemented projects in math, social studies, science, and art throughout my 30+ year career.

Today, I am delighted to share a math project I recently did with 3rd graders in the advanced academics program where I teach here as a guest of my friend, Vanessa, at Longwing Learning.

Last year, I was teaching fractions and emphasizing the relationship between fractions and division. Of course, we did some worksheets and some hands-on activities using manipulatives during the unit, but I really wanted them to have an opportunity to:

Collaborate,
Be creative,
Make strong connections between division and fractions.

Table of Contents

Fraction Town Design and Creation

I decided to create a set of 13 directions for my students to follow, such as:

You need graph paper.
Main Street in Fraction Town runs North and South. It is 32 squares long and 2 squares wide. Elm Street runs North and South. It is 30 squares long and two squares wide. Elm Street is east of Main Street.
There are 2 roads that start on Main Street and run east. One of those roads is 3/8 as long as Main Street and it connects Main Street and Elm Street. The other is 1/4 as long as Main Street. Both roads are 2 squares wide. You may give the names of the roads.
And so on…

I split my students into groups of 3 and gave them the directions and small graph paper.

They worked together to understand the directions and to create their drafts.

After they presented their drafts to me, I checked to make sure that they got their math right and then handed them their BIG graph paper (https://amzn.to/4ap8Oaj affiliate link) to create their towns.

Now, the awesome part of this project is that, even though students all follow the same mathematical directions, their designs end up unique. They have great fun naming the streets and buildings and even add trees, people, animals, and more to their towns.