Chocolate and Math

I am a brilliant teacher! Ok well maybe not everyday but I do have my shining moments and today was one of them!

My students are currently learning about fractions, a concept that is actually kind of difficult for some children. I mean think about it... its a part of a whole OR a part of a group and the denominator means the number that make up the whole or the total group AND dictates how big each piece is. Then you have equivalent fractions and mixed numbers and then there is the oh so confusing adding and subtracting unlike denominators.

To help clear up some of the confusion I brought some Hershey bars to school and we made fractions!! It was a blast! After a few minutes of breaking the chocolate bar into halves, fourths, and twelfths everything finally just started to click! I swear I could see the light bulbs turn on. Math today was a complete success! I just hope that it will carry over to tomorrow when we try fractions with out the sugar.

This quote just sums up how great math was today!...

"Miss Wells I think we should use chocolate with math everyday. The smell of chocolate just helps me think!"

I totally agree. Everything is better with chocolate!