Fraction Representation: The Not-So-Common Denominator among Textbooks

Abstract

Using visual representations, such as symbols, drawings, and graphs, helps middle school students reason about and understand mathematics. These representations support students' learning and help them communicate their mathematical ideas. Representations also help them organize their thinking, make connections among mathematical concepts, and model the mathematics that they see in the real world (NCTM 2000). The middle school mathematics curriculum seeks to move students in a logical progression from concrete models to drawings and pictures and finally to abstract symbols. Representations can assist students in making this transition.