Fraction Number Lines and Mixed Fractions
Sharing bread, drinks, cloth, and time on a fraction line.
Use the whole from 0 to 1 before moving past one.
A class shares loaves and measures cloth. Mark unit fractions on a number line, then show what happens when the numerator is greater than the denominator.
Fraction Number Lines and Mixed Fractions illustration
Sharing bread, drinks, cloth, and time on a fraction line.
Show 7/4 as a mixed number.
- Four fourths make one whole. Shade four fourths first.
- There are three fourths left, so 7/4 is 1 3/4.
Struggle support
Rescue lab
Loaves before mixed numbers
A group cuts loaves into fourths. They must count full loaves before naming the leftover pieces.
Draw two same-sized loaves, each split into four equal parts.
Count seven fourth-pieces one by one and group every four pieces.
Four fourths make 1 whole loaf, with 3 fourths left.
Shade the first whole strip before shading the next strip.
One full strip plus three parts of the next strip are shaded.
Write the whole count, then the remaining fraction.
7/4 = 1 3/4.
Thinking 7/4 is less than 1 because 4 is in the denominator.
Ask how many fourths fill one whole.
Count the whole first: 4/4 is 1 whole, so 7/4 is beyond 1.
Comparing fractions with different-sized wholes.
Ask whether the strips or loaves are exactly the same size.
Make the wholes equal before comparing shaded parts.
Count the whole first, then point to the leftover fraction before writing the mixed number.