Make Adding and Subtracting Fractions Easy

When you look at your curriculum map and see the unit on adding and subtracting fractions is coming up do you FREAK OUT? Or are you calm and ready to take on the challenge with a new group of kids? As I talked about in the previous post Multiplying Fractions Fearlessly all kids will fall into two categories…fearful or fearless! I’d love to share with you some ways that I make fractions fun and easy for my kids.

Fractions Simplified

I really love teaching children how to work with fractions! Crazy, right? I actually believe it can be really simple if you begin with a generalization first. This allows kids to build confidence with their ability to add and subtract fractions easily.

Adding and Subtracting Fractions Using a Generalization

When students have to jump into the world of adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators things can get really confusing for kids. That’s why I believe teaching students a generalization will make all the difference in the world. It is a strategy that they will be able to use for ANY fraction equation they are given.

How to Add Fractions

The generalization I teach my students for adding fractions is a/b plus c/b. By teaching kids to understand these variables I’m empowering them to solve any addition equation that is thrown at them.

All they have to do is plug in the numbers where the variables are in the generalization. This gives them the opportunity to make sure they have common denominators.

How to Subtract Fractions

The generalization I teach my students for subtracting fractions is a/b minus c/b. Kids will find confidence in knowing that the generalization only changes the operation. Everything else stays the same. Students can literally plug in the fractions they are given and come up with the correct answer.

I use variables to illustrate that to add and subtract fractions you must have a common denominator (b) always. Students must recognize this is always the first step to solving these types of problems.

By showing them the generalization first you are building your students’ confidence with fractions. Now your kids are ready to tackle any addition or subtraction fraction problems that come their way. So let’s get practicing.

Fractions Can Be Fun!

Now, to practice the fraction skill in a fun way! I don’t know about you, but my students always love a good mystery. A few weeks ago when I first gave my kids a digital pixel art puzzle to practice their multiplication facts…they were HOOKED!

As a teacher when your kids are excited to complete an activity they don’t mind the work nearly as much. Once I saw how much my kids loved these digital puzzles I knew I needed more for my upcoming fraction unit.

Adding and Subtracting Fractions with Digital Pixel Art

Here are the adorable St. Patrick’s Day digital mystery pictures that I made for my kids. It’s super simple to use and assign in Google Classroom. Students literally log in, open excel, and solve the adding and subtracting fraction problems. It’s that easy!

What I love most about these is the self-checking feature. Talk about a time-saving hack. It also gives kids immediate feedback. If they get the answer correct the answer box turns green and part of the puzzle is revealed.

If they get a problem wrong the box will turn red and none of the pieces of the picture will appear on the screen. This will let them know they need to try again. This really helps me to quickly scan a room and see who needs help and who has this skill mastered.

Assessing Students Ability to Add and Subtract Fractions

Now that all the FEAR has been turned into FEARLESSNESS with the help of generalizations and tons of fraction practice with fun digital games you are ready to see if your kids have mastered adding and subtracting fractions. I always give my students standards-based assessments so that I can check for mastery of a specific skill. You should include a variety of rigorous questions to check for mastery. I use a mix of word problems and multi-step problems and models.

I love a quick and easy to grade assessment that also gives my students extra test prep practice. We all know there are so many standards and so very little time. I’ve spent lots of time developing these multiple-choice assessments and here is the great news you don’t have to! Check out a previous blog post about the assessments or click on the image below to check them out in my teachers pay teachers store.