One of my third grade co-teachers came to me with a dilemma.  They were about to start their fraction unit, but my two GT kids had aced their pre-test.

While she was anxious about what they would do (like some GT kids, if they are not meaningfully busy, they can become a behavior issue), I was thrilled:

  1. She was using me as a resource!  Too many times teachers don’t reach out to me, and it isn’t until I get to talk to my kids that I realize they need some enrichment in the classroom.
  2. She used a pre-test.  And I mean, actually USED it.  She didn’t just pass it out, enter the grades, then toss it.  She looked over the results and used them to guide her planning.
  3. She was giving me an opportunity to create an enrichment project, which is one of my favorite things to do!

I spent an entire planning period wracking my brain for a creative idea.  I do a recipe thing in fourth grade, so I wanted to avoid that.  I googled “what do we use fractions for?” to see if any search results would spark an idea – no luck.  So then I turned to my kids.  What would interest them?  Robots.  One of my students LOVES drawing robots.

robot fraction

And that is how my Fraction Robot was created.  Below are the steps to making your own Fraction Robot Enrichment project or click here to purchase mine off of TpT!

The Gist:

Students will cut out different fractions of different shapes, then combine them to make a robot.

Step One:

I began with nine practice problems that involved fractions.  I know my students already mastered the pre-test, but I wanted to double-check that they could do a problem from each of the Common Core fraction strands.

robot fraction example

Step 2:

Next to each practice problem, I listed a “direction” that involved the fraction from the problem. This reinforced the visual aspect of fractions that is a big part of third grade.  For example, if the fraction “1/3” was used in the problem, the directions might say:  “Choose a shape of your choice and cut out 1/3 of it.”

This allows for creativity because students can choose which shape they want to cut.

Step 3:

Copy a few sheets with a variety of shapes and sizes

Differentiation Option:  For your lower learners by make sure all of the shapes have grids, or by have shapes like circles and squares already divided into fractions.

For your higher learners, leave the shapes blank so they have to divide the whole into the correct number of parts.

robot shapes

Step 4:

Let students create!  Because students get to choose which shape they cut out for which step, everyone’s robot will turn out looking different.

Bonus Language-Arts Extension:

I am having my students write a little blurb to go with their robots that explains its function.  I am also having them color and decorate them!

Don’t feel like making your own?  Click here to purchase mine!  It is already created and aligned to CCSS.