Fractions as parts of a set

Teaching Strategy 1

Tell Real-World Stories

  • 1st grade
  • 2nd Grade
  • 3rd Grade
  • 4th Grade
  • 5th Grade

This strategy focuses on making sense of real-world situations involving fractions as part of a set.


  • 1

    Tell the following story: Ten people came over for dinner. Half of them were vegetarian, while the other half ate meat. How many people were vegetarian?

  • 2

    Have your child draw pictures of ten people to help solve the problem.

  • 3

    Remind your child that a half is ½, which means one out of two equal groups.

  • 4

    Show your child how to divide the pictures of people into two equal groups.

  • 5

    Instruct your child to count how many people are in each group.

  • 6

    Tell your child that ½ of 10 is 5.

  • 7

    Repeat this process with bigger or smaller numbers and fractions depending on your child’s age and fluency with fractions.

Teaching Strategy 2

Draw Pictures

  • 1st grade
  • 2nd Grade
  • 3rd Grade
  • 4th Grade
  • 5th Grade

This strategy focuses on drawing pictures as a way of understanding fractions as part of a set.


  • 1

    Ask your child to figure out what ¼ of 8 is.

  • 2

    Have your child draw eight circles.

  • 3

    Remind your child that a ¼ is one out of four equal groups.

  • 4

    Show your child how to divide the circles into four equal groups.

  • 5

    Instruct your child to count how many circles are in each group.

  • 6

    Tell your child that ¼ of 8 is 2.

  • 7

    Repeat this process with bigger or smaller numbers and fractions depending on your child’s age and fluency with fractions.

Teaching Strategy 3

Solve Equations

  • 4th Grade
  • 5th Grade

This strategy focuses on using multiplication to solve problems involving fractions as parts of a set.


  • 1

    Write an equation for your child to solve. For example, ⅓ x 9 = ___.

  • 2

    Explain that this is the same as figuring out ⅓ of 9.

  • 3

    Have your child use pictures to help solve the problem.

  • 4

    Repeat this process with bigger or smaller numbers and fractions depending on your child’s age and fluency with fractions.

Common Core Standards


  • 3.NF

    Number and Operations-Fractions

Practice for Fractions as parts of a set

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