Resources for Teaching Fraction Arithmetic

Fractions is a math topic that baffles many third and fourth grade kids, so having a collection of useful teaching resources on hand is critical to student success. Working with fractions requires combining many of the operations learned in earlier grades, and understanding what fractional quantities really mean can take a lot of exposure and practice. I wanted to share a few resources with you that should help with fraction concepts, whether you are working with students in the classroom or at home.

Equivalent Fractions Chart

There is one super useful resource for visualizing the relationships between fractions with different denominators, and also seeing how equivalent fractions can be used to reduce fractions. I'm talking about a fractions chart! While I've shown a black background version to the left (which looks amazing), if you follow through the link you'll find versions with white background suitable for printing and inserting in 4th grade math notebooks or other places of interest. There are even full size equivalent fraction posters that are perfect for classroom walls.

Identifying and Visualizing Fractions

Pie diagrams are the everyday way to illustrate fractional quantities, and I've already linked to a visual fraction calculator that does this for any problem you can dream up. But in terms of desk work, you can see some of the same representations with this series of graphic fraction worksheets. Kids completing these worksheets will need to write fractions based on the pie diagrams, or alternatively create their own pie diagrams from written fractions.

Math Operations with Fractions

Working with fractions involves many detailed steps to complete even basic fraction addition and fraction subtraction. The adding fractions worksheets start out with problems that have common denominators, and then gradually progress to problems with different denominators and also mixed fractions.

Subtraction is similar, and the subtracting fraction worksheets follow the same path, avoiding different denominators at first and then progressing through mixed fractions. They also gradually introduce borrowing from wholes in mixed fractions once students have mastered earlier fraction subtraction skills.

Fraction multiplication comes with it's own special set of skills. This series of multiplying fractions worksheets includes, as you would expect, mixed fractions and it has special sets that focus on things like cross cancelling.

After multiplication, dividing fractions is a piece of cake. Just remember to take the reciprocal and follow the usual steps for multiplication.

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No matter how you approach teaching or learning fractions, you'll find plenty of resources to practice using the fraction worksheet links above. If you have more suggestions, let me know in the comments!

Teaching slope intercept form? This calculator is a great tool!

When we start teaching algebra concepts in middle school, graphing on the coordinate plane is one of those first topics to help with visualizing linear equations.

That familiar slope intercept form ("y=mx+b") is something all students need to become intimately familiar with, and students should be comfortable converting the two points that define a line into both the slope and the y-intercept value so that they can generate linear equations in this form.

This slope intercept form calculator is a fantastic interactive tool for showing how slope is determined from two points. It doesn't just calculate the slope, it graphs the equation on a coordinate plane and shows you have the rise-over-run values are determined from the points.

It also allows you to directly enter a slope or a y-intercept, and it will update the equation in real time to show you how those changes affect the line.

These interactive features make the calculator an incredible resource when used with a smartboard or projector in the classroom. You can explain slope concepts like positive slopes and negative slopes quickly because the graphs are drawn for you instantly.

If you are teaching the concepts around basic linear equations and calculating slope, give this calculator a try!

This Interactive Age Calculator is Really Amazing!

If you're trying to teach calendar concepts in the classroom, or just looking for an interesting way to figure out when your next few birthdays are going to sneak up on you, then you should definitely check out this amazing age calculator...

What makes this age calculator interesting is that it doesn't just show you chronological age based on your birthday, but it allows you to choose all sorts of other date related events and put those in the context of your birthday. For example, you can see a calendar of past and future presidential election dates and it will give you information about which election in which you'll be eligible to vote. This would be a great classroom activity around election time!

There are also other activities around comparing your birthday to your friends or saving money over time. Overall, this is much more than an age calculator... It's a super age calculator! Check it out!

Percentage Calculator

Percentages are everywhere you look, and students need to know how to convert a percent to fraction or a fraction to percent readily. A great resource for being understanding how a percentage relates to its corresponding fraction is the percentage calculator at DadsWorksheets.com...

Percentage Calculator

This percentage calculator allows you to enter either a fraction or a percentage, and it instantly calculates the other value for you. It also shows a pie-chart representation of what the percentage actually represents out of a whole value.

There is a useful section that provides wording for percentages that answer questions like how many parts out of a whole equal a certain percentage or what a particular percentage is out of a number. By experimenting with the values you enter into the percentage calculator and seeing what results, you'll develop a great conceptual understanding of percentages. It's a great tool and a great way to check your answers on percentage worksheets as well!

Dadsworksheets.Com

I recently found a great site for math worksheets, Dadsworksheets.com.

The site has topics from simple long division worksheets to advanced topics such as pre-algebra worksheets. 

Here is a list of topics and worksheets that I thought were unique and hard to find:

Order of Operations Worksheets

Multiplicaiton Timed Test

Multiplying Fractions Worksheets

Geometry Worksheets

Elpased Time Worksheets

Fraction Worksheets

Measurement Worksheets

The site also has a great Fraction Calculator that is very useful.

Money Worksheets from Around the World

These Money Worksheets are great in helping children to count and recognize different money from countries around the world. You can produce money worksheets using coins, bills, or both.

The Money Worksheets for each country are listed in their separate section. These Money Worksheets are from the United States, Australian, Belizean, British, Brazilian, Canadian, Chinese, Egyptian, European Common Union, Japanese, Mexican, and Russian.

These Money Worksheets are free to download, easy to use, and very flexible. These Money Worksheets are randomly generated so when you request one it will be different every time.

These Money Worksheets are a great resource for children in Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, and 3rd Grade.

Kindergarten Worksheets for Teachers and Homeschoolers

These Kindergarten Worksheets are perfect working with children in their early education. Shape recognizition, patterning, writing numerals, adding and subtracting with shapes and dots, counting by filling in the missing numbers, or count the objects in a group. These are great resources for teachers, home schoolers, moms, dads, and children looking for actitives re-enforcing the early learning subjects of pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and 1st grade.

Here is a list of all of the worksheets available in the Kindergarten section.
Number Recognition Lesson Plan
Shape Recognition Lesson Plan
Color the Shapes
Writing Numbers
Place Values Practice
Biggest and Smallest
Greater Than Less Than
Connect the Dots
Match Numbers to Objects
Match Numbers to Their Names
Match Shapes to Their Names
Match US Currency to Their Names
Objects and Numbers
Count How Many
Count the Number of Talley Marks
Counting Coins
Skip Counting
Fill in the Missing Numbers
Complete the Series
Complete the Pattern
Adding Shapes
Adding with Dots
Subtracting Shapes
Subtracting with Dots

All kindergarten worksheets are produced randomly and will not repeat.

If you need a more detailed description of these Kindergarten Worksheets just scroll down to the detailed area or click on the quick link to be taken to that Kindergarten Worksheet.

These Kindergarten Worksheets are a great resource for children in Pre- Kindergarten, Kindergarten and, 1st Grade.