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Fractions or Rational Number?
The Crash Course.

Fractions or Rational Number? Actually they are one in the same. And no - they were not invented to make your childs (or your) life miserable! They were invented to fill the gaps between the intigers on the number line! If something is more than 1 and less than 2, the only way to represent it (without using a lot of words) is with a fraction!

But you can use decimals, right? Of course, and guess what they are!

So where to from here? If you are 100% sure your child/student fully understands what a fraction is, then scroll down this page to the Table of Contents and navigate to some more specialized areas.

If however your child is just starting out on this topic, the remainder of this section deals with comprehension, so this is where you need to be!

COMPREHENSION

To fully show your child what great numbers are all about, we are going to use a manipulative called Fraction Circles. These are simply circles of the same size, cut into different sized pieces.

Please print out this page and this page before continuing. It is best to print these on card if possible, but if not, paper is fine.

While they are printing you will want to get yourself a scisors!

Let's get started. When I did this with my six year old, it didn't take him long to see the relationship between the number of pieces I was cutting the circle into and the number representation of it. So you may want your child to be a part of this little project. It's not necessary but a lot of fun.

Cut out the circles roughly.

Color the side with writing different colors. (This makes it easier to stay organized.)

Now, trim the circles to their exact siz

Explain the two parts to your child, the Numerator and the Denominator.

The Numerator (the number above the line) which represents how many 'pieces' you have &

The Denominator (the number below the line) which represents how many pieces the object, (in this case one circle) is divided into.

Now its time to have some fun!

Start rearanging the pieces of the different circles. For example, remove one 1/2 circle, and ask your kid to replace it with however many 1/4 pieces they need, to make a whole circle.

All going well, they will only need 2. Now talk to them about how they could represent this in the form a/b.

They may tell you that a 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/4 is one circle. Or they may say that a 1/2 + 2/4 is one circle.

Repeat the process with different sizes. What happens if you give them 1/2 a circle and ask them to complete the circle using the 1/3 peices. Can they do it? Why not?

So much of math tutoring is asking your child open ended questions, and seeing what they come up with. Always freely guide them, but don't teach them short cuts. Encourage them to look at the resulting patterns. 1/2 is the same as 2/4.

Continue with this type of exercise until your child fully understands what fractions are, and how they can 'fit together'.

For more tips on how to tutor our child effectively, navigate through our parents resource section.

FRACTIONS TABLE OF CONTENTS

Fraction Comprehension - you are on this page.

K6 Numbers & Operations

COMMING SOON

Addition and subtraction

Comparing - Equivalent , Like Denominators, Unlike Denominators

Multiplication and Division

Converting to Decimals

Printable Worksheets

Printable-math-worksheets home page .

$footer for Fractions page$

Fractions or Rational Number? The Crash Course.

Fractions or Rational Number?
The Crash Course.