Learning

Magnetic fractions cubes and spheres - review

Summary: Review by a teacher of a set of magnetic cubes and spheres for teaching fractions to children.

• Introduction
• Activities carried out
• Conclusions
• Ordering

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Christopher Schembri is Teacher/Coordinator of Mathematics at Linden Lodge School. He kindly agreed to review the magnetic fraction cubes and spheres (LC174) for us with three pupils during their maths lessons.

Introduction

Christopher writes: I have tested this resource with three students (names have been changed), working at different levels on either the National Curriculum Levels (NCL) or P-Scales.

Neville is in Year 10 and his maths levels are: Number – P7b, Shape, Space and Measures – P5a, Using and Applying – P7b. Neville is registered blind and his reading format is Moon. He has Dandy Walker Syndrome, shunted hydrocephalus, spastic diplegia and autistic spectrum disorder.

Leanne is in Year 11 and her maths levels are: Number and Algebra – NCL2c, Shape, Space and Measures – NCL1b, Using and Applying – NCL1a, Handling Data – NCL1b. Leanne's reading format is grade 1 braille. Her eye conditions are optic atrophy and optic neopathy.

Gabriella is in Year 11 and her maths levels are: Number and Algebra – NCL1a, Shape, Space and Measures – NCL1a, Using and Applying – NCL2c, Handling Data – NCL2c. Gabriella's reading format is large print. Her eye conditions are divergent right squint with reduced vision in her right eye; reduced vision in her left eye. She has Dystonic cerebral palsy.

Leanne and Gabriella are in the same class group.

Activities carried out

Neville's experience

Neville was working independently with his Learning Support Assistant (LSA) when using the magnetic fraction cubes and spheres. Neville knows his Moon numbers very well and is also able to type them using a special Intellikeys keyboard overlay that provides him with an auditory response when he types in a number or a mathematical sign. He is able to locate and use the keys for numbers zero to nine, the plus, minus and equals.

Neville has never worked with fractions before, so I thought that this resource will give him a practical, accessible and enjoyable approach to fractions. Unfortunately there are no fractions in Moon, so Neville’s responses could not be recorded by him. Instead, his LSA recorded what he said and what Neville was doing.

Neville’s LSA started by asking him to explore every sphere and cube by breaking them apart and putting them back together one by one. Every time, she asked Neville into how many parts he could divide each shape. When Neville got used to how the shapes work, his LSA gave him the two-part sphere and asked him to count the pieces. Then, Neville had to give one part out of two to the LSA. She then pointed out that we call this fraction one half. He did the same with one-third, two-thirds, one-quarter, three-quarters, one-eighth, three-eighths, five-eighths and seven-eighths.

On the following lesson, Neville was going to be introduced to the concept of equivalent fractions. His LSA gave him the two and four-piece spheres and asked him to split them both in half. Neville needed some support to understand what he was supposed to do. When he grasped the concept, the LSA asked him to put the "one piece of two" in a box and to examine the other half, that is, the "two pieces out or four". Neville’s LSA used oral prompts to guide him to realise that: one half is equal to two quarters (two quarters is a half). The same was done to show that three sixths and four eighths are also equal to a half. Although there is no six-piece object in the set of magnetic fractions, I made use of unifix cubes to represent a six-piece object.

Neville understood this concept with a couple of repetitions and indeed was able to carry out this task independently, when prompted, using the cubes. Looking back on this activity, I could have helped Neville by labelling each part with a fraction, if fractions in Moon were available. This would have also helped him to practice reading fractions.

Gabriella's and Leanne's experiences

Leanne and Gabriella are in the same class group. They used the magnetic fraction cubes and spheres as part of a whole class lesson. In this class there were three more students; two using large print and one using Moon. Each student was given a cube to explore. Leanne and Gabriella were given a four and a two-piece cube respectively. I made this particular choice due to their individual ability and physical impairment.

Leanne found it very interesting, and she was able to separate her cube into four pieces and put it altogether again. However, when putting it together, she was finding it a bit difficult because some of the pieces repelled each other due to opposite magnetic poles being brought near each other. Leanne’s fine motor skills are excellent so she was able to overcome this very easily.

On the other hand, Gabriella was finding it much more difficult. Due to her physical disability, Gabriella uses her right hand predominantly and has only some control in her other hand. Gabriella was able to lock the base of the cube in her left hand and break it up using her right hand. Nevertheless, she found it very difficult to manipulate these two halves in order to overcome the repulsion produced by the opposite poles of the magnets. Her LSA gave her some physical support in order to realise what was happening. This slowed her down when compared to the other students in class.

The girls took almost three lessons to cover what Neville has done in two.

Conclusions

Due to the fine motor skills involved, as well as the ability to build a sphere and a cube, this resource made it possible for me to look at targets from "Shape, Space and Measures" and "Using and Applying". It showed me that Neville has better skills in overcoming physical barriers and indeed was able to manipulate the shapes to achieve his desired outcome.

One disadvantage I found when using this resource with visually impaired and visually impaired/multi-disabled (VI and MDVI) children is the magnetic feature itself. Due to their VI/MDVI, some of the students struggled to find a way to overcome the repulsion produced by the opposite poles of the magnets. In fact, some of them were getting frustrated that the pieces kept on moving and seemed to not want to stay in place.

One way I could think of to improve on this aspect to help students with a visual impairment is to have embossed and engraved parts on each piece. This would indicate and make it easier for the different pieces to interlock if they are placed correctly.

In general, I found the magnetic fraction cubes and spheres proved to be an excellent way to introduce fractions to these three students. It is a very motivating way to encourage the students to explore fractions in an accessible way and to use their mode of communication to practice writing them down.

Ordering

To order the magnetic fraction cubes and spheres (LC174) or to view our full product range, please visit the online shop, call RNIB Customer Services on 0846 702 3153 or email cservices@rnib.org.uk.

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Content author: parents@rnib.org.uk

Last updated: 20/11/2008 11:13