Lincoln Portfolio

Pre-test analysis

From the pre-test, I was able to find some misconceptions that Charlie and
Tucker have as they tried to explain the reasoning behind their answers. I
also found that they basically understand the same concepts because they
answered all but one of the same questions incorrectly and correctly.

Charlie didnt attempt question one, while Tucker had the right answer as
well as an incorrect answer. I didnt give him credit for the right answer
because he said the correct answer was equivalent to the wrong answer he
had written down. Tucker doesnt quite grasp the concept of equivalent
fractions, but has some idea of how to find a fraction of a whole based on his
effort and him getting the question partially right.

Question two asks how many pieces of a candy bar each friend will get if
there are six friends and four candy bars. Charlie said each person would get
two candy bars. Tucker took the two numbers from the story problem and put
them over each other (6/4). This showed me that while both students
understand where the denominator and numerator are on a fraction, they
dont understand what the number represents.

The way both students defended their answers for question three shows that
they understood the concept of going two miles on a track, but not that two
miles is equal to 8/4. Again, a lack of understanding equivalent fractions was
identified.

Both students answered questions six correctly and recognized that a

fraction can only be measured if all of the pieces are the same size. When
asked to draw any shape cut into fourths, both students were successful.

One student was able to draw a number line divided into sixths while the
other was not. This led me to conclude the importance of my second lesson I
planned on. The second lesson focuses on how a number line can be divided
into fractions. I wish I would have had more questions on my pre-test related
to the number line lesson, but I also didnt want my test to be terribly long. If
I were to create the test again, I would change some of the questions from
the equivalent fractions to the number line standard. Because of a partial
understanding of fractions and number lines, I am beginning my first lesson
with a candy bar representation that is cut into a foot in length and that uses
connecting pieces that are an inch in length each. This will be referenced on
the day we go into more depth on the number line.

Both students knew how to solve the problem for how much of a pack of
paper would each teacher get if there were two packs of paper and three
teachers, but when asked to choose all that apply, neither of them knew that
Lincoln Portfolio
Pre-test analysis

2/3 of a pack is the same as 4/6 of a pack of paper. Overall, my students

used good reasoning to determine their answers, but just lacked hands on
experience with materials that would help them understand equivalent
fractions and how that relates to fractions on a number line.