Dividing+Fractions

__Introduction__
If any fractional operation is not understood conceptually by students it is dividing fractions. We teach them to "invert and multiply straight a cross". This makes little sense to students. I had been teaching nearly 4 years when it "clicked" for me. No wonder students repeatedly forget the algorithm. This page suggests some ways to conceptually teach division of fractions.First, for those who are stuck on teaching inverting and multiplying it will discuss this. Second, for those willing to break out of the mold, it will suggest another way used in other countries. It is prerequisite that students have a firm understanding of division of whole numbers in order to understand division of fractions. This does not mean they have to be great at long division, it does mean they need to understand that division is dividing things into groups evenly and either counting the number of members of a group (quotative) or counting the number of groups (partitive). It is not important that students know the names of the two types of division. This pages assumes they understand division, but if they don't, attached is a worksheet to help reinforce whole number division. The idea behind it is that students draw the groups and members of the group.