Ray's New Intellectual Arithmetic · Lesson XXI · Unit 3: What fractions are
21. Writing fractions
Goal: Your child reads and writes fractions and knows numerator, denominator, proper and improper fractions and mixed numbers.
You'll need
- Paper strips or squared paper
- Pencils
What's in the book
Definitions: a fraction is one or more equal parts of a unit; the denominator (below) tells how many parts the unit is divided into; the numerator (above) tells how many are taken. Then proper and improper fractions and mixed numbers like 2½, with exercises in writing and reading fractions.
The lesson, step by step
Warm up
Ask three or four problems from the last lesson again, out of order. Your child answers and says why.
Show the reasoning
Draw a bar cut into 5 equal parts and shade 3.
SayThe 5 below says how many parts the whole is cut into: fifths. The 3 above says how many we take. Three-fifths.
Then show that 7/5 is more than one whole: one whole and two-fifths, 1⅖.
Work the problems aloud
Read each problem on the page aloud. Your child answers, then explains in a full sentence, the way the book's model solutions do. The problems go like this:
Write two-thirds, four-fifths, seven-tenths.
Read 3/8, 11/12, 9/4.
Which are proper fractions and which improper: 5/6, 9/7, 4/4?
Ask “Why?”
After each answer ask “Why?” or “How do you know?” Ray's wants the reasoning said aloud, not just the number. If your child stalls, go back to the model and say the first half of the explanation together.
Wrap up
Pick the two problems that were hardest today. Tomorrow, start with those as the warm-up.
Afterwards
Do the rest of the lesson's problems over the next day or two, a few at a time. Move on when your child can explain them without help.