Students use a circle model to show 1 3/4. 
Here you see a dozen of donuts, with 12 being how many parts in the whole.
Students were given a mixed number that they had to model on a poster for the rest of the class to guess. They could not represent the mixed number using symbols or numbers. Many students noticed that it was important to define the whole and how many parts made the whole.
Next, students worked to match a model with a mixed number and its corresponding improper fraction.
Students revisited the different combinations made throughout the math session to generate a "rule" on how to convert a mixed number into an improper fraction and vice versa!
