Homeschool Lessons: Fractions
Updated: Nov 29, 2022
I don't know about you, but I wouldn't say I liked math as a kid. All I remember was being put on the spot so many times to solve math equations and freezing up. So, I've focused on my teaching approach moving into third grade and beyond. Luckily my daughter isn't me, and she LOVES math!
Last year she got a little taste of fractions and multiplication, but we are beginning to get into the thick of things. I've found the best way to explore fractions fun and engagingly is through baking. So for the next two weeks, we are baking and making pizza to reinforce our lessons. Math can become dull, and learning through hands-on, real-world experience is fun!
Foam Pizza
To start our lesson, I had to register the new business with the BBBD(the better business bureau of dad). The paperwork went through very quickly, and shortly after, we opened Aria's Fraction Pizzeria! Now that I've gotten the jokes out let's begin! Before we enter the kitchen, we start our pizza experience in the classroom. I prepped some foam paper by cutting them into circles and decided on my ingredients. I used pink and red buttons as pepperoni(aka buttonroni), shredded yellow foam for cheese, sequence as peppers, red foam for sauce, and finally, googly eyes because it's almost Halloween. You can adapt this and use whatever you have. For example, you could use construction paper for your pizza and other items for the ingredients.
After I completed my prep. I created three orders with different ingredients and serving requirements. Here are my orders:
Order #1
-Sauce
-Cheese
-1/2 Buttonroni
-1/3 Glitterpepper
Slice into three servings
Order #2
-1/2 Sauce
-3/4 Cheese
- Googly Eyes
Slice into four servings
Order#3
-Sauce
-Light Cheese
- Glitter Pepper
Slice into six servings.
After the pie is created, cut pies into requested servings and then solve the fraction that indicates how much the pie has been divided into for serving. Then solve the fraction once a serving is taken away. Each round takes away slice after slice and requests how much pizza is left. For example, if I had a pie cut into fourths, I could request 1/4 and then ask how much of said pie is gone. I could also ask for a slice and how much was sold from the pie.
Pizza for Dinner
Pizza Dough Recipe
5 1/4 cups of flour
1/4 tsp of sugar
1 tsp salt
2 1/3 Tblsp garlic powder(optional)
2 cups of warm water
1 1/2 Tbsp of yeast (fast-acting)
Add warm water and sugar and sprinkle in the yeast in a mixing bowl or food processor. Let sit for 10 minutes. Stir and add salt, olive oil, garlic, and flour. Use a dough hook or plastic blade in a processor and knead for 5 minutes or until the dough is smooth and stretchy.
Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and allow to rise until it's doubled in size in a warm area for about 2 hours. ( we made our dough after school and let it rise until dinner time at 6:00 pm)
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Punch the dough down, split it into three balls, and let it rest for 25 minutes.
Shape your dough and place it on a pizza stone or baking sheet. I like to roll out my dough in a bit of cornmeal because it gives it a nice crunch.
Put on the toppings of your choice.
Bake on the bottom rack for 20 mins or until golden.
Let it cool and enjoy!
The following day we had the leftover dough, so we made a breakfast pizza with no sauce. Instead, I brushed on some olive oil and sprinkled it with salt and black pepper, added tiny pieces of pepperoni, added mozzarella baked for 15 mins. During this time, I scrambled some eggs, added them to the pizza, topped them with more cheese, and baked them for the last five minutes. Once finished, I added some arugula and avocado. It made for a delicious breakfast!
