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Home | Blog | Mathematics | How to Make Learning Fractions Easy

How to Make Learning Fractions Easy

Blog, Mathematics

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Some young learners find fractions really tricky to grasp. We’ve all had the child who, after you finish a unit on fractions and think you’ve done a great job, writes the numerator and the denominator the wrong way round. The secret is in making sure you don’t rush through the unit.

You need a structured approach to teaching your fraction unit; one that introduces the topic and then reinforces it with fun learning activities.

Equal and Unequal Parts of a Whole

Begin with teaching your students to identify equal and unequal parts of a whole. This part is crucial to the early understanding of fractions.

fraction-equal-and-unequal-parts-of-a-whole

Wholes and Halves

Then we need to name parts.

Halves are the first fraction we look at because it is used commonly among children. Even from a young age, you’ll hear kids ask, “Can I have half of your chocolate bar?”

Your students will need lots of hands on practice partitioning shapes into halves.

Now I am anti freehand partitioning. After all, you have just taught your kids about equal and unequal parts. How confusing is it for young learners to see fractions they have partitioned with unequal parts!

It might be an extra step to teach them how to use a ruler, but it’s a skill they need to learn.

partition the shapes into halves

Introducing the fraction symbol at this point is way too early. As you know, kids can get confused writing the fraction symbol so it’s best to stick with writing 1 half rather than 1/2.

Don’t forget that kids need to understand what a whole is too.

fractions with wholes and halves

Fourths

Fourths are the next fraction we introduce. I say fourths rather than quarters because using the name fourths initially builds the understanding that fourths are four even parts. Children do need to be introduced to the term quarter but understanding what fourths represent first is important. Once they understand how to partition a shape into four equal parts then introduce the term quarters.

Fraction games to show one fourth or quarters

When we teach fractions we should not only focus on parts of a region. We also need to extend children’s thinking to see that it is also parts of a collection.

“Can I have a quarter of the sweets?”. We aren’t going to chop every sweet into quarters but rather divide the pile into four equal shares (a bit of division here too).

fractions games parts of a whole

Now depending on your curriculum and year level be it one or two, thirds (U.S.A.) or eights (Australia) will be introduced next.

task cards fractions

The important thing with teaching fractions is to take it slow, use heaps of hands on activities and games and most importantly make it fun.

If you would like to view any of the products featured in this article just click the pictures below.

Fraction activity sheets games and posters

Fraction games for first grade

If you would prefer to purchase from our store on Teachers Pay Teachers, please click the following relevant links for our products:

Fractions Activity Sheets, Games and Posters

Fractions Activity Sheets, Games and Posters (Australian Curriculum)

Fraction Games for First Grade

Fraction Games for Second Grade

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