Sometimes it is tempting to become wrapped up in the quest for conceptual understanding at the detriment of procedural fluency. I’ve certainly been guilty of that sometimes. This task is designed as a basis of discussion around fraction division where fluency develops, but where some generalisations can also emerge.

I’d be inclined to let pupils try the structured variation grid first. “Fill in everything you can, before I teach you anything”, then use that as a the basis for a discussion about fraction division.

Unfortunately, such rich pedagogy is beyond me just now, with online learning. I’ll be using these as worksheets and encouraging pupils to spot patterns as best they can, but without being in the classroom some of the effect (the magic?) of tasks is lost.