Teaching 5th Graders About Dividing Fractions

Whether you’re new to teaching dividing fractions to your 5th graders or you’ve been teaching it for a while, it can be difficult to know where to start. It’s crucial that students understand the basics. The first step is to introduce the basics of dividing fractions, which can be confusing to 5th graders.

Step 1: Hands On Fun

My favorite way to explain dividing fractions is with a hands-on approach. I like to give the students objects such as candy bars or Play-Doh and have them divide them into equal parts. This helps them visualize dividing wholes by a fraction. For example, dividing a candy bar into two equal pieces can help them understand dividing one whole by half. Then you can take it a step further and ask them to divide the same candy bar into three equal pieces.

Step 2: Keep-Change-Flip

When dividing fractions, students must learn to keep, change and flip when solving problems. It’s also important to emphasize that dividing fractions is not the same as multiplying them. This can be confusing for 5th graders. We are actually multiplying by the reciprocal, which is not the same as dividing.

To begin make sure that students understand that the first fraction which is your dividend stays the same. That’s the Keep in the equation. Then the division sign is changed into a multiplication sign. I’m a huge Harry Potter fan, so I always explain it like we are casting a spell. It helps them to remember to change the operation sign. Lastly, we flip the second fraction which is the divisor. Then students are left to multiply the numerators together divided by the denominators multiplied together. If you’d like more information on how to introduce this concept you can read this previous blog post here.

Next Steps

Once students understand the basics of dividing fractions, they can be challenged with word problems. This is a great way to reinforce the concepts and have them practice their dividing fraction skills in a real-world context. It is also important to encourage students to check their work by multiplying their answer by the divisor. If they get the divided back, they can be confident in their answer.

Teaching dividing fractions can be a challenging task, but with proper planning and dedication, 5th graders will soon understand the basics. If you’re looking for additional resources, I have several different fraction activities that you can use in your classroom to teach and assess your students’ understanding of dividing fractions. With the right support, your students will be able to excel at learning how to divide fractions.

Finally, it’s important to review dividing fractions with the class. I love to use digital assignments that are self-checking. It not only requires students to apply what they have learned and solve problems on their own, but it also lets them know immediately know if they are correct or not. This helps reinforce the concepts we’ve discussed in class and allows them to practice dividing fractions independently. Some of my favorite digital resources are Boom Cards, pixel art, and mazes.

Dividing fractions can be a tricky concept, but with a little bit of patience and guidance, 5th graders can eventually master it. With the right resources and approach, dividing fractions will be much easier for them to understand.