How to start teaching fractions to kids? (2024)

FAQs

How to start teaching fractions to kids? ›

Using objects to visualize fractions

Use pictures, diagrams, and models to help students see how fractions work. Use shapes to represent a whole and then divide it into parts to show how a fraction represents a portion of the whole. Use sets of objects and represent various parts – e.g., the number of red markers in a set of markers.

Bottoms Up: Start with the Denominator

When they first meet fractions, our students already use numbers to count, measure, and compare. So it just doesn't make sense that 37/100 could be smaller than ⅔. Or that ⅓ is bigger than 1/10. A denominator is unlike any number they've learned before.

A good strategy to introduce fractions is to connect to prior knowledge. In this strategy, you explain that we use fractions throughout our day, sometimes without realizing it! For example, ask students to think about dividing up a cake to understand what a fraction means.

When you are first starting out with fractions, an easy way to understand them is to draw a picture. Remember, the “whole” of the fraction is represented by the denominator and is the bottom number of the fraction. Compare the diagrams of each fraction and see if they match.

A fraction is a part of a whole. Fractions are used to represent smaller pieces (or parts) of a whole. The parts might make up one thing, or more than one thing. Either way, altogether, they make up what's called a whole.

Decorate a piece of paper or card and then ask your child to fold the paper into different equal parts. For example, they could fold the paper into fifths by creating five equal sections. Ask them to show you a fifth, two-fifths, three-fifths, four-fifths, and five-fifths, which they can see is equivalent to a whole.

Grades 1 and 2: The basic concept of fractions is introduced, with examples like cutting a cake into equal parts. Grade 3: The teaching of fractions becomes more formal. Kids learn about numerators and denominators. Grade 4: Kids start to work with and compare fractions.

A fraction is a way to represent parts of a whole. Fractions are written as one number over another number (e.g. ½ ). The bottom number (the denominator) represents the number of equal parts the whole has been divided into. The bottom number the numerator represents how many parts are included.

Why do students struggle with fractions? ›

Fractions are so challenging in part because they don't operate in the same way that whole numbers do, said Nancy C. Jordan, a professor of learning sciences at the University of Delaware. Numbers of the same magnitude can look very different: Take 2/4 and 8/16, for example.

A formal introduction to fractions begins in Grade 3, where the Number and Operations—Fractions domain first appears in the mathematics standards.

When teaching fractions, I like to begin with the denominator first. I tell my students that the bottom number tells us 2 things. It tells us how many equal parts our whole is divided into or how many groups in a set. It also tells us what to call these parts.

Using objects to visualize fractions

When you're starting out with teaching children fractions, objects or pictures of objects are a great way to understand how they work. Start with concrete items, like food or counters – you can use pasta pieces or dried beans in place of counters – then draw them as pictures.

Dominoes are great for (one) naming fractions and (two) finding equivalent fractions. Students must first determine which side is the numerator and which side is the denominator (bigger). Then, they can find other dominoes that are equivalent fractions to the first, with bigger and smaller numbers!