Fractions of a whole number – Grade 5 math lesson

For parents: how to use this lesson

You don't need to know this topic yourself. The lesson explains each step on screen, the way Mr Euclid, our Head of Math, likes it: one tidy step at a time. Every answer is graded straight away with a worked explanation, so you never have to grade anything.

1. Read what your child will learn together.
2. Press Start the lesson below and sit with your child for the teaching and the worked examples (about 19 minutes).
3. Let them do the practice on their own. They choose Getting started, On track or Challenge – start on On track and move up after a few right in a row.
4. Finish with the exit ticket and the talk question: “How does finding 1/5 help you find 3/5?”
5. Later that day or the next day: the homework (20 minutes), then a practice test.

Watch out for

• Stopping after dividing (giving 1/5 instead of 3/5). Draw the bar and shade the number of parts the numerator asks for.
• Dividing by the numerator instead of the denominator. Say "the denominator tells me how many equal parts".

Miss Hypatia's tip for home: Find fractions of real amounts: half of the shopping bill, a quarter of the pizza slices.