Use Apples to Teach Fractions Math Lesson Plan

October is National Apple Month, so why not celebrate by using a literature-based apple-themed math lesson plan to introduce children to the concept of fractions and how they can be used to divide objects? The trade picture books That Apple Is Mine! by Katya Arnold [Holiday House, 2000], Apple Fractions by Donna Townsend [Children's Press, 2004], and Apple Fractions by Jerry Pallotta [Scholastic, Inc., 2002] offer good introductions to how and why to use fractions.

Objectives

• Students will demonstrate an understanding that fractions divide or cut one object into equal parts by labeling each part with the correct fraction.
• Students will apply their knowledge of fractions to the practical task of splitting apples and apple-related products between various numbers of people.

Lesson Focus

• Read That Apple Is Mine! by Katya Arnold. Pause when Bear says, "Then each of you deserves the apple." Pass around an apple and have children offer ideas for how to solve the problem facing the animals: Hare, Crow, and Hedgehog all deserve the apple, but there is only one apple.
• Once children have offered solutions, read on to where Bear says, "let's divide it evenly so each of you gets a piece." Compare this solution with the ones children came up with.
• Point out the picture where Hedgehog cuts the apple into four equal pieces.
• Cut your apple into four equal pieces and display it on a plate.
• Finish reading the book. Then ask children how many pieces the apple would have to be cut into to be shared equally among all five characters, including Worm.
• Cut a second apple into five equal pieces and display them on another plate.

Use Apples to Introduce the Concept of Fractions

• Put an apple on a plate with a label that reads 1.
• Ask children how Hare and Crow could share a second apple fairly. Cut it in half on a plate, label each part 1/2, and place this plate next to the first plate.
• Repeat, cutting the next apple into thirds to share it between Hare, Crow, and Hedgehog and labeling each piece 1/3.
• Add the plates from the Lesson Focus to the table, labeling their pieces 1/4 and 1/5.
• Explain that if you cut something into equal parts to share it, each part is a fraction of the whole. Discuss how the bottom part of a fraction tells how many parts the whole has been split into.

Read Apple Fractions by Donna Townsend

• Read the book. Have children use lumps of clay and a safe cutting tool to model and discuss each example. For example, for pages 4-5, children can sculpt an apple and then cut it into four equal pieces.
• When the apples in the book turn into muffins, have children sculpt four muffins out of their clay and use these muffins to act out the remainder of the book's examples.
• Help children explain aloud what they are doing in each case. For example, I am cutting this apple into two parts. Each part is 1/2.

Read Apple Fractions by Jerry Pallotta

• Read the book. Have children use lumps of clay and a safe cutting tool to model and discuss each example. For example, for pages 12-13, children can sculpt an apple, cut it into three equal pieces, and then put one off to the side and group the other two to represent 1/3 and 2/3.
• Use examples from the book to discuss adding fractions.

Extension Activity

Baking is an activity that uses fractions both in recipes and when serving the final results. Use fractions while making and serving apple muffins or apple pies, or try a science cooking lesson making pumpkin pies.

Assessment

Have children solve apple-based problems, such as dividing one apple among a group of friends or splitting a group of apple treats among a group of people. Leave the books and clay out for children to work with later at their leisure.

1/2 + 1/2 = 1

1/4 of the Apples Are Red

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