Whole-y Cow Fractions Are Fun

Materials/Equipment: Souders, T.

(2010). Whole-y Cow Fractions Are Fun.

Ann Arbor, MI: Sleeping Bear Press., Ice
cream templates found on pinterest,
construction paper, crayons, markers,
pencils, glue, dry erase markers, paper ice
cream sundae bowl, and sharing shapes
story problems purchased off of
TeachersPayTeachers.com.

Curriculum Integration:
Music
Social Studies
Science
Technology
Writing

Math
Reading
Theatre
Art
Art

PE
Health

TEKS Achieved:
111.3 (b): 6H: identify examples of halves
and fourths.

Differentiated Learning:
Auditory
Kinesthetic
Verbal/Linguistic
Intrapersonal

Visual/Spatial
Logical/Math
Musical
Interpersonal

Blooms Taxonomy:

Knowledge/Remember
Analysis
Comprehension/Understand Evaluate
Application
Create

Classroom Strategies:
Cooperative Groups
Technology
Independent Activities
Charts/Graphs/Maps
Problem Solving
group
Peer tutoring

Hands-On
Centers
Simulation
Lecture
WholePairing

Submitted by: Jessica Thompson

Grade Level: __First___ Subject/Topic: _Math-Fractions__________________
Rationale: The purpose of this lesson is for students to identify and create parts of a whole (i.e. halves,
thirds, fourths and fifths).

Objectives:

TSW identify examples of halves, thirds, fourths, and fifths.

Lesson Plan:

Introduction (Anticipatory Set/Motivation):

I will read to the students Whole-y Cow Fractions Are Fun. Before reading I will complete a
picture walk with the students, discussing the title, author and illustrator. We will also discuss the
genre of the book. During reading, I will ask the students what fractions they see on the pages and
we will discuss how they identified the parts of a whole. After reading, I will ask the students if
they can give me any other examples of fractions or recall some they saw in the story.
Process:

Information Giving: I will give the definition a fraction is part of a whole. I will also
explain that the number on the bottom of the fraction is the denominator and the
denominator tells how many parts the whole is divided into. I will then explain that the
number on the top is called the numerator and that tells us how may parts we have.
Modeling: I will refer back to pages eight and nine of the book, and explain to the
students that today we are going to use ice cream to help us understand parts of a whole
(i.e. fractions). I will place a large ice cream sundae bowl in the board and add to the bowl
three scoops of chocolate ice cream and then one scoop of strawberry. I will then count
the total scoops of chocolate and strawberry, showing the students that I have four total

scoops (the whole). I will then review that we only have three scoops of chocolate, so that
would be the part that we have which equals three-fourths. I will repeat this process with
the strawberry scoop, explaining that we have one-fourth strawberry.
Check for Understanding: To check for understanding I will ask the students higher
order thinking questions, such as: Who can define the word fraction?, Can you explain
what the denominator represents?, and Can you recall what the numerator represents in
a fraction?
Guided Practice: As a whole group, I will pass out a few additional scoops of ice cream to
some of the students to add to the sundae bowl. One at a time, I will have the students
with the additional ice cream scoops come to the board and add their scoop. The student
will then count the total number of scoops (the whole) and write the number in the
denominator. The student will then count the scoop they added to the bowl, if their flavor
is chocolate or strawberry they will be asked to count those as well. They will then write
the total in the numerator (or the part of the whole). I will complete this process with a
few more volunteers. You all have done a great job filling in our bowl and finding the
fractions, that I think you are ready to do it on your own.
Independent Practice: Now you are going to create ice cream cones to represent parts
of a whole. I will pass out ice cream cone templates to the students. Some students will
be given three scoops, four scoops and five scoops. The students will be instructed to
color no more than two scoops the same flavor. The students will glue their ice cream
cones to a large piece of construction paper and write the fractions on their paper. For
example, I have one-fourth chocolate. When the students have completed their ice cream
cones, I will ask if anyone would like to share their work.
Enrichment/Extension: For students who have finished early, I will have fraction story
problems that correspond with the book for them to answer. Once they have completed
the four problems they can make it into a book to bring home. This will reinforce the
concepts they learned in the book and lesson.
Accommodations:
1. For a student with special needs, I will reduce the number of scoops they have to
use to create their fraction ice cream cones and allow them extra time to complete
the assignment.
2. For an ELL student, I will provide them with vocabulary terms in their native
language and extra time to complete the assignment.
Assessment/Evaluation (Students): I will assess the students ability to divide twodimensional figures into two and four fair shares or equal parts, by having them represent
the ice cream fractions we created as shapes as well. I will also have them verbalize the

parts of a whole to me. I will assess the students ability to identify examples of halves
and fourth, as well as other fractions through their completed ice cream cone fractions.

Assessment/Evaluation (Self): To introduce the lesson I read to the students Whole-y

Cow Fractions Are Fun. The book is great because it provides examples for the students
and engages them by asking questions. We then reviewed the definitions of a fraction,
denominator, and numerator. To model the lesson I referred back to the pages in the book
talking about ice cream sundaes. I told the students we were going to make a sundae on
the board. I showed them that if I added one chocolate scoop and one strawberry scoop, I
would have chocolate and strawberry. I continued this process until I had a total of
four scoops in my bowl. I then had four students add in different scoops of ice cream and
they counted out the whole number of scoops and the parts of the flavor they had. There
were various fractions for the students to visually see. When we finished guided practice,
I explained that they would be making ice cream cones using different amounts of scoops
to make parts of the whole. To differentiate the lesson for students at all learning levels,
I gave some students thirds (3 scoops), fourths (4 scoops), and fifths (5 scoops). The
students had to create and organize their ice cream cones, as well as write out the
fractions that corresponded with their cones. We then shared them with the class and
hung them on the wall.
I feel that this lesson went well because from the beginning to the end they were actively
engaged and excited about what they were learning. Also, they were able to relate the
lesson to the story and make connections. I also feel it went well because I could easily
assess the independent practice and if the students understand the objective. Also, I
could see that all students at all learning levels understood making different parts of a
whole.
To improve this lesson, I would have had the students use their math journals to take
notes during guided practice. The students could copy the visual picture and fraction into
their journals. By doing this simple step I would have implemented a writing aspect to help
the students remember and understand the lesson. I feel this change would be needed so
that the students not coming to the board would still be engaged in this portion of the
lesson.