Fractions – Objectives Identify equivalent fractions Reduce fractions to their simplest form You will need: Equivalent fractions at http://www.freewebs.com/weddell/equivalent.swf © Hamilton Trust Keeping Up Term 2 Week 1 Day 1

Fractions – Direct Teaching Which family of fractions is this? Agree that the fractions shaded dark blue are equivalent to ½ and that the numerator is half of the denominator in 2/4 and 3/6. __ 2 4 __ 3 6 © Hamilton Trust Keeping Up Term 2 Week 1 Day 1

Fractions – Direct Teaching Which fractions belong in this family? 2 __ 5 __ 3 12 6 __ 8 2 __ 8 3 __ 6 4 __ 16 __ 5 20 __ 1 4 __ 3 10 Circle/ highlight fractions equivalent to ¼ on IWB. Point out that other fractions in this family can be created by multiplying the numerator and denominator of ¼ by the same number. Which fractions belong in this family? © Hamilton Trust Keeping Up Term 2 Week 1 Day 1

Fractions – Student Activity Write as many fractions equivalent to ¾ as you can! Pairs work together on mini whiteboards/ in the back of books. Watch out for students who are not multiplying numerator and denominator by the same number. © Hamilton Trust Keeping Up Term 2 Week 1 Day 1

Fractions – Direct Teaching What is the simplest equivalent fraction for: ÷ 4 To reduce fractions to their simplest form, encourage students to divide the numerator and denominator by common factors until the denominator is as low as possible. © Hamilton Trust Keeping Up Term 2 Week 1 Day 1

Fractions – Individual Practice Choose any four of these fractions to reduce to their simplest form: 6 __ 15 __ 10 __ 8 __ 10 45 25 18 10 __ 12 __ Watch out for students who think that fractions with bigger denominators are bigger, e.g. 1/7 is bigger than 1/6 because 7 is greater than 6 or that 3/12 > ¼ as 12 is greater than 4. Encourage them to see that if a shape is divided into more equal parts, then each part will need to be smaller; Be careful if students think that fractions are always less than 1 – point out that we can have mixed numbers: 1½ and improper fractions such as 3/2 Support weaker students by providing fraction walls or fraction towers for them to see and handle. 2 __ 30 4 __ 6 __ 30 12 28 18 © Hamilton Trust Keeping Up Term 2 Week 1 Day 1