DeAnn Huinker, PhD, professor of mathematics education, and Elizabeth Cutter-Lin, PhD, instructor in the UWM School of Education, have co-authored a new book that offers educators research-based strategies for helping students develop a deeper understanding of fractions.
Fractions Unlocked: How Teaching Fractions as Numbers Is the Key to Student Understanding will be published Sept. 25 by Teachers College Press as part of the Math Teaching in Practice Series, a collaboration between Teachers College Press and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM).
The book addresses one of the most persistent challenges in mathematics education: helping students develop meaningful understanding of fractions and fraction operations. Huinker and Cutter-Lin present a research-based approach that shifts instruction beyond traditional part-whole models toward understanding fractions as numbers with magnitude, using measurement and unit fractions as foundations for learning.
The 224-page book provides practical strategies for elementary and middle school teachers and instructional coaches, including the use of number lines, fraction strips, drawings, contextual situations and symbolic notation to make fraction concepts visible. It also includes analyses of student work, discussion prompts, instructional sequences and teaching takeaways that educators can use to support classroom instruction.
The Math Teaching in Practice Series brings together researchers, professional developers and mathematics education leaders to provide research-based, field-tested resources for preK–12 educators. The series is intended to connect research with the realities of classroom teaching and offer practical approaches that educators can implement in their own practice.
Fractions Unlocked is available for pre-order through Teachers College Press and other booksellers ahead of its Sept. 25 release.