Sing your way through math

Carol Kohne was in yesterday laminating some music staffs. I know she's not a music teacher, so I asked what the staffs were for. She shared with me a fun way for students to learn about fractions. I thought I'd pass it along.

First she has students design quilt squares using fractions. So some students might make a "whole" square with just one color. Some might make a "1/2" square with two colors, or 1/6 with six colors, and so on.

Once the squares are completed, they connect the quilt squares together into one big quilt.

Next comes the fun part. They sing the quilt. So they might sing

laaaaaa for a "whole" square,
or
la-la-la for a "thirds" square.

How fun is that!