One of the earliest Fraction Talk ideas to come from the community of teachers that took up the idea was that of Fraction Talk War. As described in this earlier post, teachers began to use Fraction Talk squares in familiar game structures such as war to elicit student decision making. I have received numerous website replies and social media notifications from teachers who have used this idea with their learners. Initiatives like these are what makes online teaching communities so powerful: Somebody has an idea and we all can run with it in ways that fit our learners’ needs.
Enter Carla Dawson.
Carla is a powerhouse of creativity. If you haven’t interacted with her Twitter feed directly, you should. The materials she creates for her learners are curious and, well, beautiful. Most of the colourful Fraction Talk images on this site are her doing. If you go to her website, you will quickly recognize her distinctive style.
Carla took on the mission of creating a deck of Fraction Talk cards that teachers could use to play war. The results are amazing; she has posted them here, and continues to update with new possibilities. The most amazing feature of these cards are the coloured guidelines she has included on each card. These alternate sectionings encourage students to see the area as composed in different pieces, and (as I often bring up with my students) can serve as a visualization of fraction multiplication.
The reaction to the cards has been overwhelming, with tweets gathering hundreds of interactions and teachers showing the ways in which they inspired thinking in their classes.
A set of @FractionTalks Fraction wars cards. More to come! #MTBoS pic.twitter.com/41xlLpuBXT
— Carla Dawson (@CDawson18) November 13, 2018
Set 2 of @fractiontalks Fraction wars cards #MTBoS pic.twitter.com/N4z99Eajv7
— Carla Dawson (@CDawson18) November 16, 2018
More @FractionTalks cards for Fraction wars. I’ll be putting all the cards I’ve posted this year together in a downloadable document which I’ll tweet on Friday #MTBoS pic.twitter.com/VQmWC01Kg0
— Carla Dawson (@CDawson18) December 16, 2018
After some time with @FractionTalks, number lines, and comparing and ordering, we used our cards for Fraction War! Big thanks to @CDawson18 for the shared links. #mpscpssd pic.twitter.com/8MbEiMbqKl
— Kirsten Dyck (@KirstDy) January 19, 2019
Relación fracción-decimal y orden de fracciones en la recta numérica. Maravillosa actividad de @FractionTalks. Thanks @CDawson18 for sharing. pic.twitter.com/Ym0Pc5QIpk
— César Grau Rodríguez (@cesargrau) January 22, 2019
Please download them, use them, and provide feedback to both Carla and the site. They are versatile; plug them into your favourite game structure or invent your own like Carla did here. We would love to see how they live in your space.