Fractions Teaching Resources
Make math lesson planning a breeze with printable fractions worksheets, fun activities, games, and more teaching resources for the elementary classroom.
This collection of curriculum-aligned printable and digital resources has been created just for teachers by the teachers on the Teach Starter team. That means each resource has undergone an in-depth review before being published to ensure it's ready for the classroom and your students! Inside this collection, you'll find editable resources you can easily differentiate for individual learners plus math center activities and fun games to help students understand how to add and divide fractions and more.
New to teaching this section of the math curriculum? Read on for a guide to all things fractions from our teacher team!
What Are Fractions?
It may be basic, but we need to start somewhere! Fractions are, of course, mathematical expressions that represent a part of a whole or a ratio of two quantities. Fractions can be used to represent quantities that are not whole numbers, and they are an important part of arithmetic, algebra, and other areas of math that our students explore throughout their elementary and high school education.
Understanding numerators and denominators is an essential skill as students dive into adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions.
Next, let's dive into the most common topics we cover when we're teaching fractions!
Proper Fractions vs. Improper Fractions
Teaching fractions involves teaching students a lot of new vocabulary! Two terms your class will need to know early on in your lessons are:
- Proper Fractions: This is a fraction where the numerator (the top part) is less than the denominator (the bottom part). A proper fraction represents a value that is between 0 and 1. For example, 1/2 is a proper fraction because the numerator (1) is less than the denominator (2).
- Improper Fractions: This is a fraction where the numerator is greater than or equal to the denominator. An improper fraction represents a value that is greater than or equal to 1. For example, 3/2 is an improper fraction because the numerator (3) is greater than the denominator (2).
What Is a Unit Fraction?
We told you there was a lot of vocabulary involved! A unit fraction is a fraction whose numerator is 1 and whose denominator is a positive integer.
For example, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, etc., are all unit fractions. Unit fractions are also examples of proper fractions, as they are always less than 1 in value.
When working with unit fractions in your classroom, students learn to represent these fractions with visual models where one piece of a partitioned shape is shaded in. Students also learn to build larger fractions by grouping unit fractions together.
As an example, 1/8 + 1/8 + 1/8 = 3/8.
What Is the Least Common Multiple?
Working on fractions with your upper elementary students? You may be tackling the least common multiple this school year. So let's talk about what that means. The least common multiple is another important term to define before diving into adding, subtracting, or comparing fractions.
Sometimes called the LCM, the least common multiple of two or more numbers is the smallest positive integer that is divisible by all of the numbers.
In order to find the LCM of two or more numbers, you can teach students to use one of several methods, including:
- The prime factorization method
- The listing method
- The division method
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 addition.
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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Fractions on a Number Line - Halves, Fifths, and Tenths
Demonstrate the concept of fractions on a number line with a printable fraction number line display and student reference sheets.
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Fractions on a Number Line - 3rd Grade Exit Tickets
Assess your students' ability to represent fractions greater than zero and less than or equal to one with a set of printable fraction exit tickets.
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Comparing Fractions – Exit Tickets
Compare fractions with the same numerator or denominator with this set of 24 exit tickets.
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Equivalent Fractions – Differentiated Math Mazes
Practice your understanding of equivalent fractions with this set of differentiated math mazes.
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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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Fractions of a Set – Cut and Paste Worksheets
A set of worksheets to practice fractional sets of a whole.
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Dividing Shapes Into Equal Parts – Worksheet
Practice partitioning shapes and shading fraction models with this math worksheet for 2nd and 3rd-grade students.
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Types of Fractions – Poster
Display information about proper fractions, improper fractions, and mixed numbers with this free math poster.
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Fractions of Shapes – Differentiated Worksheets
Practice recognizing halves and fourths with this differentiated basic fractions worksheet for 1st and 2nd grade.
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Introduction to Fractions – Interactive Instructional Slide Deck
Use this instructional slide deck to teach your students how to identify the parts of a fraction, determine equal and unequal parts, and use numerators and denominators to write fractions.
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Equivalent Fractions Chart - Blank
Encourage students to create their own equivalent fraction chart with this printable math template.
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Unit Fraction & Whole Number Division Models – Match-Up Activity
Practice how to divide a unit fraction by a whole number and divide a whole number by a unit fraction with this match-up activity.
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Fractions on a Number Line - Halves, Quarters, and Eighths
Demonstrate the concept of fractions on a number line with a printable number line display and student reference sheets.
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Number Talks - Fraction Task Cards
Build fraction skills with this set of 30 task cards.
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Multiplying Fractions – Domino Games
Engage students with a dominoes game while practicing how to multiply fractions.
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Representing Fractions – Worksheet
Represent fractions in multiple ways using this structured worksheet.
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5th Grade Operations with Fractions Assessment
Asses student understanding of adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions with this math assessment.
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Dividing Fractions – Differentiated Worksheets
Practice dividing fractions with this set of differentiated worksheets.
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Least Common Multiple – Match-Up Activity
Determine the least common multiple of a set of numbers with this match-up activity.
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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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Fractions, Decimals, and Percentages Vocabulary Poster
A poster to help students learn the vocabulary associated with fractions, decimals, and percentages.
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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, Decimal and Percentage Match-Up Game
Get students converting fractions, decimals and percentages with this hands-on maths game perfect for math centers.
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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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Adding Fractions With Like Denominators Task Cards
Get your students adding fractions with like denominators using this set of task cards focusing on a variety of strategies.
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Unit Fractions Clip Cards
Practice unit fractions with this set of unit fraction clip cards ready to use in the classroom.
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Ordering Unit Fractions Cut and Paste
Practice ordering visual representations of unit fractions and their fraction with this set of worksheets.
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Unit Fraction Puzzle Pop Match
‘Pop’ in a bit of extra practice with unit fractions using this fun set of Unit Fraction Puzzle Pops!
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Unit Fraction Matching Game
Match up different visuals of simple unit fractions to help students understand this mathematical concept.
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Build a Pizza! Unit Fraction Game
Practice unit fraction with this fun ‘make a pizza’ game to be played in pairs or small groups.
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Unit Fraction Interactive Task Cards
Engage your students with their learning of unit fractions using this set of interactive task cards ready to be used today!
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Unit Fractions Interactive Activity
Explore everything there is to know about unit fractions with your students using this engaging interactive activity.