marvelous Marva fractions

I snatched this out of the ether over the weekend- it is a wonderful explication/explanation of what "fraction" is. It is a demonstration from Marva Collins' mathematics program. Marva is also from Chicago, (like EM) and has her OWN teaching methods of math. And has some marvelous cred, if you google her! I'll paraphrase (and skip the footnotes):

The prefix FRAC is shared with FRACTURE, which means that something, such as a bone in the human body, has been broken. A fraction means just that; that something has been divided into parts. The top number of a fraction is the NUMERATOR. The prefix NUM is shared with the words NUMBER and NUMERAL. These words tell us how many. The line under the numerator is the FRACTION BAR, and it always means DIVISION. The bottom of a fraction is called the DENOMINATOR. The prefix, DE NOM in the French language means "of its name". In Spanish, the words DE NOMBRE have the same meaning as DE NOM. In English, the religious group called Protestants includes Baptists, Calvinists, Presbyterians, Methodists, and more. To be specific, a Protestant may identify the DENOMINATION to which he, or she, belongs. The prefix DE NOM, therefore, means WHAT KIND.

example: 7/15

What kind of fraction is this? The kind of fraction is 15ths, written as fifteenths. Whatever it was that was a whole, such as a pie, has been divided into 15 parts. How many fifteenths? There are 7, written as seven, fifteenths in the fraction. In this fraction, 7 is to be divided by 15, and we know that because the line under the 7, the fraction bar, means division.

Why is this important to know? Defining the meaning of words helps us to understand what is being discussed.

Additionally, the significance of the denominator is better grasped when one considers that a group of 7 tigers may be added arithmetically to another group of tigers to produce 11 tigers in all. Adding the two groups did not magically change them into a different type of animal. But a group of 7 tigers may not be added to a group of palm trees, because these are different kinds of living things. Fractions can not be added unless the denominators are of the same kind (like tigers). Fractions may be added when they are the same kind of fractions. And, when fractions are added with the same denominators, they do not become a new fraction.

Was that not interesting and helpful?!!???????

Here's what Marva Collins says, "On the day of victory, nobody is tired!"

http://www.marvacollins.com/biography.html