An understanding of unit fractions, and especially of one-half, one-third, and one-fourth, is crucially important for elementary school children’s development of number sense (CCSSI 2010). We describe multimodal activities designed to assist elementary school students in gaining a rich understanding of unit fractions. Research has shown (Zhang 2012) that participation in the activities described in this article helped fifth-grade students develop wider imagery and deepen their understandings with respect to unit fractions concepts. A body of literature is developing that is directed at teachers who wish to fruitfully engage elementary school students in concept-rich fractions activities (e.g., Ball 1993; Ball, Thames, and Phelps 2008; Barnett-Clarke et al. 2010; Chval et al. 2013).
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