Posted by Angie Grimes in the Teachers.Net Lessons Bank
http://teachers.net/lessons/posts/1460.html

Activity Time: about 30-45 minutes

Concept: A fraction is a part of a whole

Materials: 3 squares of paper/student (about 3"x3"), 1 rectangle of construction paper/student (about 3"x8"), markers, glue, Woodsies wood shapes (found in craft departments), yarn (3 strings/student)

Procedure: (I found it very helpful to show the students an example of the mobile right at the beginning of the lesson)

1. Give each student a ziplock bag with needed materials (paper squares, yarn, and wood shapes). It's helpful to already have the holes punched into the 3 squares of paper and the three holes in the rectangle.
2. Students are to create pictures or patterns on the paper squares using the wood shapes. They should also color the shapes.
3. On the back of the squares they should write a fraction about their picture. Ex. 3/5 of the shapes are triangles or 2/5 of the shapes are red
4. Tell students to BE CREATIVE! (My students like to rush through activities)
5. After the students have created their fractions, they are ready to attach the squares to the rectangle with the yarn.
6. Have students share their mobiles with the class

* My classes really enjoyed this activity and got very creative with their wood designs, creating pictures of people, flowers, cars, etc. Also, I found this activity helpful in having them think of fractions in ways other than "slices of pizza and cake". If you don't want to spend the money on buying the wood pieces, you can always just cut out paper shapes of squares, circles, and triangles in varying sizes.

From the Teachers.Net Lessons Bank http://teachers.net/lessons/posts/2146.html

Materials Required: cardboard tubes from kitchen foil rolls

Activity Time: 30-60 minutes

Using cardboard tubes brought from home and small amounts of rice each child can make his/her own rainstick.

Take the cardboard tube and seal one end with strong masking tape.

(Using some strong craft or sewing pins with a head on them) give each child around 20 pins and have them randomly stick the pins all the way into the tube, that is to push each pin from the outside edge into the tube so it sticks inside.

Place 1/2 cup of uncooked rice or dry beans into the tube and once again seal up the open end with masking tape. Now when the child turns the tube sideways the rice will fall down the tube hitting the pins and creating a rain fall sound.

If time, the children can use paint to decorate their rain sticks.