Peck and Matassa (2016) recently published a research paper that reinforced why fraction division and multiplication is such an important topic for children to master. We often hear that understanding fractions is a gateway to learning algebra, and these authors offered some pretty compelling reasons why that’s the case. Before we get to the study, […]
Today, I uploaded a new video on YouTube that condenses all the research behind my math mystery comic book series, Newton’s Nemesis. It’s fast paced and 7-minutes long. Every time I need to learn something (like my recent adventure changing a burnt out headlight in my car), I search for a video on YouTube. That
One of the most common reasons children struggle when learning fraction division is because they haven’t fully developed their understanding of division with whole numbers. Children need to understand different interpretations of division and have the opportunity to make connections between whole number division and fraction division. I created Theo’s younger sister Leah to help
There are many intriguing ways fraction division can be interpreted. The most common are measurement and partitive, but there are more. No wonder it’s so challenging to teach!
The beta test results for Newton’s Nemesis No. 1 are in, and I am thrilled! The teachers and children loved the book. I gave class sets of the comic books to teachers in four schools, three of which are low income and qualify for Title 1 funding. That means over 40% of the children receive
