Intro to Fractions

Even the youngest of students can learn some basics about fractions with this mini lesson.

Orange Fractions

1. Peel an orange and separate it into two halves. Discuss how there are two parts of one whole orange, thus two halves make one whole.

2. Split the orange into four parts and discuss.

3. Separate all the orange pieces. Ours had twelve parts. Hold three pieces in your hand and ask, "How many parts do I have?" 3. "Out of how many?" 12. "3 parts out of twelve parts is 3/12." If kids are grasping the concept well, explain that 3/12 is the same as 1/4 of the orange.

Liquid Fractions
1. Fill a 1 C measuring cup with water or beans. If using water, you may want to put a cookie sheet underneath.
2. Allow kids to experiment with various measuring cups. Help them reach the discovery that 4 1/4 cups make 1 C and 3 1/3 cups make 1 C.
3. Explain why it works that way. Because 3 parts out of 3 make a whole, etc.