Grade 3 · Math · Unit

Fractions

9 lessonsabout 5 weeks

The unit ends with three more days: a review day, the unit check, and a day to act on what the check showed.

Unit 7 of 8 in the Grade 3 Math Scope and Sequence

What's included in this unit

9 lessons in teaching order, each with its objective and a teacher note
36 practice pages to print, with an easier and a harder page where available
1 classroom tools for the projector
7 activities and pages that children do on a screen
9 check-up pages to collect

The whole unit in one file

Print every page of the unit at once, with the teacher guide first. The guide has one page per lesson: the objective, what to hand out, and the teacher note.

Teacher guide only (PDF)

The unit file, the teacher guide, and saved pages are included with the Teacher plan.

Your PDF is built in your browser, so it always has the newest version of every page.

Lessons

Lesson 1

Equal pieces

Children decide whether a shape is cut into equal parts; with the teacher, they name one of the equal parts as a unit fraction.

StandardCommon Core 3.G.A.2Geometry

3 class days

Day 1Teach: Fraction Kitchen · Practice on paper (Core page)
Day 2Practice and check: Practice on paper (Easier page, Harder page) · Practice on screen · Check-up page
Day 3Reteach and extend: Act on the check-up pages: reteach the children who are not there yet, with the tool and a new page from the maker; the others take a harder page.

Lesson 2

Name and shade a fraction

Children write the fraction that the shaded parts of a shape show, and shade a shape to show a given fraction.

StandardCommon Core 3.NF.A.1Number and Operations—Fractions

3 class days

Day 1Teach: Fraction Kitchen · Practice on paper (Core page)
Day 2Practice and check: Practice on paper (Easier page, Harder page) · Practice on screen · Check-up page
Day 3Reteach and extend: Act on the check-up pages: reteach the children who are not there yet, with the tool and a new page from the maker; the others take a harder page.

Warm up and teach

Open Fraction Kitchen on the projector.

Practice on paper

Name That Fraction
Core page Easier page Harder page
Shade the Fraction
Core page Easier page Harder page

Practice on screen

Pip's Chocolate Forge — Build Fractions

Check-up page

One more page of Name That Fraction to collect at the end of the lesson.

Make more

Make more pages like this with the Fractions maker.

Lesson 3

Find the whole

Children look at one equal part and choose the bar that shows the whole it came from.

StandardCommon Core 3.NF.A.1Number and Operations—Fractions

2 class days

Day 1Teach: Practice on paper (Core page)
Day 2Practice and check: Practice on paper (Easier page, Harder page) · Practice on screen · Check-up page

Practice on paper

Find the Whole
Core page Easier page Harder page

Practice on screen

Pip's Chocolate Forge — Build Fractions

Check-up page

One more page of Find the Whole to collect at the end of the lesson.

Make more

Make more pages like this with the Fractions maker.

Lesson 4

Unit fractions on the number line

Children see the distance from 0 to 1 on a number line partitioned into 2, 3, 4, 6, or 8 equal parts and name the endpoint of the first part as 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/6, or 1/8. Then they count equal parts from 0 to place a fraction such as 3/8 on the line.

StandardCommon Core 3.NF.A.2Number and Operations—Fractions

2 class days

Day 1Teach: Practice on paper (Core page)
Day 2Practice and check: Practice on paper (Easier page, Harder page) · Check-up page

Practice on paper

What Fraction Is the Dot?
Core page Easier page Harder page
Fractions on the Number Line
Core page Easier page Harder page

Check-up page

One more page of Fractions on the Number Line to collect at the end of the lesson.

Teacher note

Common mistakes: Children count the tick marks instead of the equal parts, so on a line partitioned into fourths they write 1/5 (five marks) or 1/3 (three marks between 0 and 1). Some write the fraction upside down (4/1). Many think 1/8 is greater than 1/4 because 8 is greater than 4.
Words to use: Say: "Count the jumps from 0 to 1, not the marks. How many equal parts? Four. Each part is one fourth." Point to the dot: "The dot is at the end of the first part. That is 1 of 4 equal parts: 1 on top, 4 on the bottom." Compare two lines: "Which first part is longer, one fourth or one eighth? Why?" For the second worksheet say: "Three eighths. Each jump is one eighth. Start at 0 and count three jumps: one eighth, two eighths, three eighths. Draw the dot there."
What to watch for: Watch what the child counts: parts or marks. Check the bottom number first: it must be the number of equal parts between 0 and 1. On the second worksheet the fraction is printed and the child draws the dot. Most of its fractions are not unit fractions (3/8, 2/3, 4/6): watch that the child counts that many parts from 0 and does not stop at the first mark. The harder page of the first worksheet has fractions such as 3/4.

Lesson 5

Fractions on a number line

Children read the fraction that a dot marks on a number line from 0 to 1 by counting the equal spaces.

StandardCommon Core 3.NF.A.2Number and Operations—Fractions

2 class days

Day 1Teach: Practice on paper (Core page)
Day 2Practice and check: Practice on paper (Easier page, Harder page) · Practice on screen · Check-up page

Practice on paper

Fractions on the Line
Core page Easier page Harder page

Practice on screen

Fractions on the Line (a page that checks the answers)

Check-up page

One more page of Fractions on the Line to collect at the end of the lesson.

Make more

Make more pages like this with the Fractions maker.

Lesson 6

Which fraction is greater?

Children compare two fractions of the same whole with fraction bars and circle the greater one.

StandardCommon Core 3.NF.A.3.dNumber and Operations—Fractions

2 class days

Day 1Teach: Practice on paper (Core page)
Day 2Practice and check: Practice on paper (Easier page, Harder page) · Practice on screen · Check-up page

Practice on paper

Which Is Bigger?
Core page Easier page Harder page

Practice on screen

Which Is Bigger? (a page that checks the answers)

Check-up page

One more page of Which Is Bigger? to collect at the end of the lesson.

Make more

Make more pages like this with the Fractions maker.

Lesson 7

Equivalent fractions: different names, same amount

Children match a picture to a fraction that shows the same amount, such as one half and two fourths.

StandardCommon Core 3.NF.A.3.aNumber and Operations—Fractions
StandardCommon Core 3.NF.A.3.bNumber and Operations—Fractions

2 class days

Day 1Teach: Practice on paper (Core page)
Day 2Practice and check: Practice on paper (Easier page, Harder page) · Practice on screen · Check-up page

Practice on paper

Twin Fractions
Core page Easier page Harder page
Equal Partners
Core page Easier page Harder page

Practice on screen

Crumb's Same-Amount Bakery — Equivalent Fractions

Check-up page

One more page of Twin Fractions to collect at the end of the lesson.

Make more

Make more pages like this with the Fractions maker.

Lesson 8

Whole numbers as fractions

Children write whole numbers as fractions (1 = 4/4, 2 = 8/4, 3 = 3/1) and find the fraction and the whole number at the same point on a number line.

StandardCommon Core 3.NF.A.3.cNumber and Operations—Fractions

2 class days

Day 1Teach: Fraction Kitchen · Practice on paper (Core page)
Day 2Practice and check: Practice on paper (Easier page, Harder page) · Check-up page

Warm up and teach

Open Fraction Kitchen on the projector.

Practice on paper

Whole Numbers as Fractions
Core page Easier page Harder page

Check-up page

One more page of Whole Numbers as Fractions to collect at the end of the lesson.

Teacher note

Common mistakes: Children think a fraction is always less than 1, so 8/4 looks wrong to them. Others read 4/4 as 4, or write 2 = 2/4 because both numbers are in the problem. Many read 3/1 as one third.
Words to use: In Fraction Kitchen, pick Pizza, tap "fourths," and cut. "How many fourths make the whole pizza? 4." Tap "one whole" to check, and write 4/4 = 1. Draw a second pizza in fourths on the board: "Two whole pizzas? 8 fourths: 8/4 = 2." Draw a number line from 0 to 3 and mark it in halves. Count the jumps aloud: "one half, two halves. Two halves land on 1." Write 2/2 under the 1, then 4/2 under the 2 and 6/2 under the 3. "What does the denominator, the bottom number, tell us? How many parts make one whole." Finally, hold up three uncut sheets of paper: "One part makes each whole, so the bottom number is 1. Three parts: 3/1 = 3."
What to watch for: On the easier page, one, two, or three whole shapes are shaded completely; the child counts all the shaded parts for the top number (the bottom number is printed) and writes how many wholes that is. Each outlined shape is one whole. On the page for everyone, four number lines are marked in equal parts; the child writes the top number of each fraction under its whole number (the bottom number is printed); the first part (such as 1/3) is labeled. Watch for children who count the marks, not the spaces between them. On the harder page, twelve equations have one number missing (6/6 = _, 3 = _/1, 2 = _/4, _/3 = 2). For 2 = _/4 ask: "How many fourths are in one whole? In two?"

Lesson 9

A fraction of a group

Children circle a fraction of a group of pictures, such as one third of 12, and write how many that is.

StandardCommon Core 3.OA.A.2Operations and Algebraic Thinking
Later gradeCommon Core 4.NF.B.4Number and Operations—Fractions
Goes beyondCommon Core 3.NF.A.1Number and Operations—Fractions

2 class days

Day 1Teach: Practice on paper (Core page)
Day 2Practice and check: Practice on paper (Easier page, Harder page) · Practice on screen · Check-up page

Practice on paper

Fraction of the Group
Core page Easier page Harder page

Practice on screen

Fraction of the Group (a page that checks the answers)

Check-up page

One more page of Fraction of the Group to collect at the end of the lesson.

Make more

Make more pages like this with the Fractions maker.

Unit check: before and after

Two short paper checks made from this unit's own worksheets. Give Check A before you teach the unit and Check B after it, and you can see what changed. Each part belongs to one lesson.

Part 1: Lesson 1, Equal pieces (1 task)
Part 2: Lesson 2, Name and shade a fraction (2 tasks)
Part 3: Lesson 3, Find the whole (1 task)
Part 4: Lesson 4, Unit fractions on the number line (2 tasks)
Part 5: Lesson 5, Fractions on a number line (1 task)
Part 6: Lesson 6, Which fraction is greater? (1 task)
Part 7: Lesson 7, Equivalent fractions: different names, same amount (1 task)
Part 8: Lesson 8, Whole numbers as fractions (1 task)
Part 9: Lesson 9, A fraction of a group (1 task)

Check A (PDF) · 4 pages Check B (PDF) · 4 pages

Printing a check counts as a download, like any worksheet.

Answer key A Answer key B Teacher pages: points, class record, and what to do next

The answer keys and the teacher pages come with the paid Teacher plan.

This is a classroom check of this unit's lessons. It is not a standardized test, and its points are not a grade.

Unit checks