Operations With Fractions Teaching Resources
Teach the rules of fractions operations and give kids plenty of practice adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing fractions this school year with printable worksheets, interactive digital activities and more curriculum-aligned teacher resources.
Created by the teachers on the Teach Starter math team for teachers like you, each resource in this math collection has been designed to integrate easily into your lesson plans. You'll even find editable options so you can easily adapt resources to differentiate instruction.
Whether you're new to teaching fraction operations or you could just a quick refresher, read on for some handy tips from our teacher team on teaching students how to add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions.
Operations With Fractions vs. Operations With Whole Numbers — What's the Difference?
Teaching your students about operations with fractions builds off the knowledge they have already gained about operations with whole numbers, but the nature of fractions and their representation of parts of a whole make this math concept distinctly different. That can be a challenge for students to comprehend!
So, let's take a look at some of the differences at hand when we talk about completing the different math operations with fractions vs. whole numbers.
Operations With Whole Numbers | Operations With Fractions |
Results are always whole numbers | Results may be fractions or mixed numbers |
Does not require an additional step of finding a common denominator | May require finding a common denominator before the operation can be completed |
How Do You Add Fractions?
Once students understand the basics of fractions, it's time to teach how they work in relation to the different operations. We'll start with teaching kids addition with fractions.
To add two or more fractions, students will need to:
- Find a common denominator (also known as the least common denominator or LCD) that is a multiple of the denominators of all the fractions. A common denominator can be found by finding the least common multiple (LCM) of the denominators.
- Once students have found the common denominator, they need to learn to convert each fraction so that it has the same denominator as the others. This is done by multiplying both the numerator and denominator of each fraction by the same number so that the denominator is equal to the common denominator.
- After converting the fractions to have the same denominator, they can add the numerators of the converted fractions.
- The denominator will be the least common denominator that was found earlier.
How Do You Subtract Fractions?
Finding the sum of fractions is one thing, but how do students find the difference?
- Students will once again need to find a common denominator — a common multiple of the denominators of the fractions.
- Once they have found a common denominator, they can convert each fraction so that it has the same denominator as the others.
- After converting the fractions to have the same denominator, students can subtract the numerators of the converted fractions to find the numerator of the difference. The denominator of the difference will be the common denominator that they found earlier.
How Do You Multiply Fractions?
Once students have adding and subtracting fractions down, they might find that multiplying is a lot simpler!
To multiply two or more fractions, you simply multiply the numerators (the top parts) together to get the numerator of the product, and then multiply the denominators (the bottom parts) together to get the denominator of the product.
How Do You Divide Fractions?
It's time for one last operation! Dividing fractions is one of the more complicated processes elementary students will have to handle when it comes to working with fractions. They will need to know how to invert fractions before they can dive in, aka flipping the numerator and denominator.
To divide fractions, teach students to:
- Invert the second fraction.
- Multiply the two fractions.
- Simplify the quotient — if possible — by finding the greatest common factor of the numerator and denominator and dividing both by it, to get the final answer in simplest form.
How Do You Simplify Fractions?
Simplifying a fraction is pretty, well, simple! It means reducing it to its simplest form. To do this, students will find an equivalent fraction that has the same value but with a smaller numerator and denominator. The numerator and denominator of a simplified fraction have no common factors other than 1.
To simplify a fraction, you can divide both the numerator and denominator by their greatest common factor. You'll then need to keep dividing by the greatest common factor until it is equal to 1, which means that the fraction can't be simplified any further. And there you have it — a simplified fraction!
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5th Grade Math Review – Google Slides Interactive Activity
Review important 5th-grade math standards with a student-led interactive activity that covers 12 different mathematical concepts.
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Adding Fractions with Common Denominators Worksheet
A worksheet to consolidate students' understanding of adding fractions with common denominators.
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Operations with Fractions – Math Mats
Use these math mats when reviewing fraction operations with your students.
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Adding and Subtracting Fractions PowerPoint
A 17-slide editable PowerPoint Template to use when teaching your students how to add and subtract fractions.
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5th Grade Math Review – Test Prep Packet
Encourage your students to work through 8 pages of 5th-grade math problems while charting their progress to measure their success.
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Multiplying Mixed Numbers – Math Mazes
Practice multiplying mixed numbers while finding your way through this set of 3 math mazes.
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Fractions, Decimals and Percentages Worksheets
Use these fractions, decimals and percentages worksheets in your upper elementary classroom for independent practice or as an assessment activity.
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Writing About Fractions- Task Cards
Review fraction concepts and practice mathematical constructed response questions with a set of writing about fractions task cards.
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Adding and Subtracting Like Fractions - Word Problems
Get in all 3 Rs (reading, writing, and arithmetic) with this word problem worksheet that lets students practice adding and subtracting like fractions.
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Number Talks - Adding and Subtracting Fractions Task Cards
Build fractional reasoning with this set of 24 task cards.
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Fraction Partner Tasks - 4th Grade Fractions
Encourage mathematical collaboration and discussion with a group of thirteen 4th-grade fractions partner activities.
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Representing Unit Fraction & Whole Number Division – Worksheet
Practice modeling and solving questions related to unit fractions and whole number division with this worksheet.
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Multiplying Fractions – Google Slides Interactive Activity
Challenge your students to multiply fractions while completing 7 different tasks with this Google slides interactive activity.
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Multiplying Mixed Numbers – Word Problem Worksheet
Solve a variety of word problems with this multiplying mixed numbers worksheet.
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Multiplying Mixed Numbers Bingo
Master the ability to multiply mixed numbers with a whole-class bingo game.
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Dividing Fractions –Word Problem Task Cards
Solve word problems by dividing fractions and whole numbers with this set of 24 task cards.
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Multiplying Mixed Numbers – Word Problem Task Cards
Improve understanding of how to multiply mixed numbers with this set of 24 word problem task cards.
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Dividing Fractions – Math Mazes
Improve student understanding of dividing a fraction by a fraction while working through these 3 math mazes.
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Simplify to Multiply – Multiplying Fractions Worksheet
Practice how to simplify fractions before multiplying with this worksheet.
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Multiplying Mixed Numbers – Worksheet
Strengthen student understanding of fractional operations with this multiplying mixed numbers worksheet.
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Multiplying Mixed Numbers – Riddle Worksheets
Multiply mixed numbers to reveal the answer to a joke with this set of 3 riddle worksheets.
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Multiplying Fractions Worksheet
A worksheet to practice multiplying and simplifying fractions.
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Adding, Subtracting, Multiplying, and Dividing Fractions Posters
Posters outlining the processes involved when adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing like and unlike fractions .
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Multiplying Fractions Task Cards
Practice multiplying fractions with a set of 12 task cards.
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Fraction of a Set Word Problem Task Cards
Practice finding specific fractions of a set with 16 word problem task cards.
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Fraction Frenzy Board Game
A game to practice adding and subtracting fractions.
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Adding and Subtracting Fractions - Worksheets
A set of 3 worksheets to practice adding and subtracting fractions with like and unlike denominators.
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Math Investigation - Operations with Fractions with Common Denominators
A mathematics investigation about fractions, embedded in a real-world context.
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Representing Unit Fraction & Whole Number Division – Instructional Slide Deck and Notes
Teach your students how to divide a whole number by a fraction and divide a fraction by a whole number with this instructional slide deck and accompanying student notes.
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Simplify to Multiply – Multiplying Fractions Board Game
Practice how to simplify fractions before multiplying with this board game.
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Dividing Fractions Bingo
Master the ability to divide fractions with a whole-class bingo game.
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Simplify to Multiply – Multiplying Fractions Match-Up Activity
Practice simplifying before multiplying fractions with this match-up activity.