Action Research

Dividing Fractions
By Jennifer Brewster

Abstract:
A fifth grade class at Glenwood School near Princeton, WV studied a unit on division of
fractions. A pretest, two lessons, a quiz, and a post-test were used to test the progression of the
students growth of knowledge of the division of fractions. These lessons were taught as whole
group, small group, and one on one. Different teaching techniques were used to see if utilizing
different techniques effect the ending outcome for assessment.

Introduction:
My action research project is to determine if daily practice with varied instruction will
help students understand and learn the concepts of how to divide fractions by building on
previous knowledge of division and multiplication and of multiplying fractions. The fifth grade
students in Mrs. Bowmans class seem to understand the concepts of the math skills that have
been taught but struggle with the final assessments. The students have had previous experience
with division and experience with addition, subtraction, and multiplication of fractions prior to
the introduction of division of fractions. The action research plan included a pretest, formative
assessments on two practice sheets and quiz in between the two practice sheets, and final
assessment.
The school that I completed my action research project was Glenwood School.
Glenwood School is a located near Princeton, WV and is a part of the Mercer County School
District. Glenwood School is unique to the other 25 schools in Mercer County because it is a
K-8 school. Glenwood School has an estimated enrollment of 734. (Glenwood School)

Student Diversity at Glenwood School

Glenwood School
White
Black
Two or more races
Hispanic
American Indian/Alaska Native
Hawaiian Native/Pacific Islander
Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander
Student diversity

95%
3%
1%
1%
0%
0%
0%

State
average
91%
5%
2%
1%
0%
0%
1%

NCES, 2012-2013 (Glenwood School)

(Glenwood School)
The whole fifth grade at Glenwood class has around 60 students this year. In Mrs.
Bowmans fifth grade class there were 20 students at the time of my action research project.
There have been several students enroll in the fifth grade at Glenwood and several students leave
to go to other schools this year. Mrs. Bowman lost a student the day after the action research
project was completed. There are a total of 11 boys and 9 girls in the class at the time of the
project. The students ages range from 10 to 12 years old. There is one student in the class that
has a 504 plan for ADHD. He is an above average student his only issues are impulsivity,
blurting, and paying attention for long periods of time. There are four students who are not
preforming on grade level. Three of these students are being referred for retentions and one is
being referred for testing for special education. The rest of the students are on grade level and
some are above grade level. There are no students classified as gifted in the class.

Learning Goals and Objectives:

For my action research I chose division of fractions because it was a new skill to the
students and because it flowed naturally with the study of fractions that Mrs. Bowman and I had
been teaching for a few weeks. The learning goals is that at least half of the class scoring a 65%
or above on the final assessment. The Next Generation CSOs that are covered in this action
research project are as follows:
M.5.NF.7 - apply and extend previous understandings of division to divide unit fractions by
whole numbers and whole numbers by unit fractions
a.
interpret division of a unit fraction by a non-zero whole number and
compute such quotients. For example, create a story context for (1/3) 4 and use a visual
fraction model to show the quotient. Use the relationship between multiplication and
division to explain that (1/3) 4 = 1/12 because (1/12) 4 = 1/3.
b.
interpret division of a whole number by a unit fraction and compute such
quotients. For example, create a story context for 4 (1/5) and use a visual fraction
model to show the quotient. Use the relationship between multiplication and division to
explain that 4 (1/5) = 20 because 20 (1/5) = 4.

I was informed by the teacher that the students had never been introduced to dividing
fractions. To be sure of this information I took a survey of the students by asking them to raise
their hands if they had ever worked with dividing fractions and the students stated that they had
not had any experience with this skill. The students had just completed multiplication of
fractions the day before the pretest of division of fractions was conducted. All of the students
had a score of zero on the pretest. With only two students attempting to use multiplication to
solve the problems.
Teaching the first lesson was a challenge. I had researched different techniques for
teaching the division of fractions and found several wonderful videos and different things to add
to a PowerPoint. The Elmo and Smart Board werent working at the time so I couldnt use that
type of technology to aid me. I then chose to use the projector and charts to help with the

teaching of this skill. I used a projector to explain the rules for dividing fractions. The students
had a copy of a practice sheet with the rules for division of fractions on the top to help them see
how to work the problems.
I used examples using letters:
a/b c/d=
a/b x d/c=
Explaining the last fraction in the problem needs to be changed into a reciprocal by
switching the numbers in the numerator with the number in the denominator and then
multiplying the fraction.
Then I created a problem using numbers:
1/2 3/4 =
1/2 x 4/3 =

I allowed the students to volunteer to help solve the problem:

The students were successful in solving the problem by answering 4/6 and the reducing
the answer 2/3. The students read the reminders at the top of the practice page chorally and I
modeled how to do the first two problems for the students. After the lesson there were at least 8
students had major questions. I then pulled these students into a small group to assist these
students. There were five of the students who needed assistance with reducing fractions. I
modeled how to reduce fractions to these students and they returned to their seats and worked the
rest of the problems independently. The other three students were having problems with division

and how to set up a division problem when the numerator was larger than the dominator. I
modeled on paper for the students how to set up a fraction and how change the improper fraction
into a mixed number. These students were also struggling with their multiplication tables so they
were allowed to work with their multiplication charts from their resource folder. I gave the
students a divisibility tips chart to help them with division.

For the next lesson I made an

anchor chart for the students to use as they
worked on their division. As a class we
read over the chart and I drilled the
students on the Keep, Change, Flip.
I made up some
hand

gestures for muscle memory to go along with the

words.
The students made a grabbing motion and a fist for
Keep the first fraction the same. For the changing of
the division symbol to multiplication symbol the
students made an x with their arms to symbolize
multiplication. The movement for Flip (making a
reciprocal) the students made a motion with their
hands like they were flipping something upside

down. The skills covered in this lesson consisted of dividing a fraction by a fraction, dividing a
whole number by a fraction, and dividing a fraction by a whole number.

The students started working on the second practice sheet after I modeled two of the
problems on the page on the transparency. A student in the class read the reminder section at the
top of the page with the students and then they worked independently. I worked one on one with
the two students that were still having difficulty with division and multiplication when it was
time for the students to work independently. I reminded them to use the resources they had to
help them. The only time they cant use their resources is on a test.
The take home quiz was given the same night because there was snow expected in the
forecast. I went over the anchor chart and hand movements with the students one more time and
worked the first problem with them.
The students self-checked the quiz with me as we worked the problems on the board the
day they came back to school. After the testes were graded the students took the final test after
clearing their desks and putting up partitions to keep their work private. The students were not
allowed to use any of the resource assistance manipulatives during the final test. My goal for
improvement from the first pre-test was to have students improve with multiple and varied
instruction. I knew that most would improve from the pretest because everyone made a zero on
the pretest, but I wanted each formative assessment to improve and the highest grades to be on
the final assessment.

Assessment Plan and Design for Instruction:

I created a pretest using ten division of fraction problems. The pretest was not set up to
be difficult and I assured the students that their grades for the pretest would not count against
them. The students worked hard on trying to figure out how to solve these problems some of

them tried to add the fractions together while some subtracted. There were two students who
tried to multiply the problems but didnt know to use the reciprocal.
I chose to teach the first lesson the way the students were normally instructed. The
teacher lectures and models a few problems. The students then work independently and selfcheck their work and then receive a participation grade for their practice of the math skill. I tried
this with the first lesson and ended up with lots of questions and confusion about division of
fractions. I pulled everyone I observed having issues completing the practice pages into a small
group. This was not in the plans but there were too many students struggling to work one on one
with every student. Because of the scores on the pretest and the struggles that the whole class
was having with the skill I decided to do some more research for idea on varying teaching
methods to help the students with division of fractions. I used created some hand gestures to
help teach the concept after watching a video from The Teaching Channel called Hand Gestures:
Movements Make Math Memorable. (Hand Gestures: Movements Make Math Memorable)
I then went and did even more research on how to teach division of fractions. I couldnt
use videos or media because the Elmo and the Smart Board were broken and not scheduled to be
fixed for some time. So I created an anchor chart to help students get a visual representation they
could refer back to so they could see the steps in solving the problems of dividing fractions. I
observed the students after the introduction of the charts and the muscle memory exercise with
the hand motions for keep, change, and flip. Most of the students in the class had fewer questions
on the practice page they were working.
I chose to give a take home practice quiz to the students to make sure that if we had a
snow day they would have some practice problems so that the students wouldnt forget how to
work the problems. I thought that extra practice of this skill would help the students prepare for

the test that was scheduled for the next day. I modeled how to do two of the problems on this
quiz and went over the chart and hand motions again.
I gave the students the same problems that the students had for their pretest on the final
assessment. I thought that it was a good idea to get a true sense of how well the students learned
to divide fractions. I had hoped that with the different teaching methods the students
performance on the assessments would improve greatly from the pretest and the first practice
lesson.

Student
Objective
(do)

Math
Specific
Assessment
s

To test prior
knowledge of
division of
fractions

10 question
assessment
on division of
fractions

To test prior knowledge of

division of fractions

Rationale of
Assessments

Pre
Assessment

Pre-Test
Formative

20 questions
related to
division of
fractions

To introduce division of
fractions and see how the
students learn from
lecture and modeling

10 question
interim
assessment
on division of
fractions

Give student practice

before the test

Practice
25

To assess
student
comprehension
of material by
using different
teaching
techniques
Interim
assesment of
student
content
knowledge
To assess
student
comprehension
of material by
using different
teaching
techniques

20 questions
related to
division of
fractions

Trying different teaching

techniques by adding an
anchor chart and hand
gestures to help lecture
and modeling

Final
Assessm
ent

Post-instruction
assessment of
student
proficiency in
dividing
fractions

10 question
assessment
on division of
fractions

Post-instruction
assessment of student
proficiency in dividing
fractions

Practice
24

Quiz

PostAssessment

Reflection and Self-Evaluation:

I realized that I was introducing a new concept to the students but I was really surprised
that all of the pretest grades were zeros. I was shocked to see how many students struggle with
basic division skills. I had many questions and found many errors in students work as I was
walking around observing students. I helped each of those students one on one.
I went back to the drawing board and made an anchor chart after I saw how much trouble
the students were having with this skill. I think that the anchor chart helped the students and I
know that the students enjoyed the hand gestures because they were laughing as they learned
them. I also saw a few making gestures to themselves as they were taking the final assessment.
The least successful activity was the first lesson which I modeled after the way that they
model most of their math lessons. The students didnt respond well to the lecture and model
techniques at all. Teaching the lesson that way confused some and bored others. The most
successful activity was the anchor chart and the hand gestures. The students laughed and I had
fewer questions and issues as I was walking around observing each student. There were still
issues with some students and the application of division but that has more to do with previous
exposure to division and multiplication, than my teaching the lesson.
After I taught this lesson I did another lesson using Legos to teach a math skill. I wish
that I could have gone back and used Legos as a visual model of division of fractions. I think
that the students who were struggling with division and multiplication would have been better

served with the Lego lessons as well. Im sorry that I used the techniques in the first lesson
because the students were struggling with this method and I knew that going in I just wanted to
see how they would improve with the introduction of new techniques.
I really wanted to do well with this project because I struggled with Math for most of my
life. I am pleased with the outcome because while most of the scores werent as high as I had
hoped I think everyone learned something about division of fractions. I learned a few things too.

Bibliography
Glenwood School. 2016. Web page. 10 March 2016.
<http://elementaryschools.org/directory/wv/cities/princeton/glenwoodschool/540084000685/#section-1>.
Hand Gestures: Movements Make Math Memorable. 2016. web page. 15 March
2016. <https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/teaching-math-handgestures>.

Samples