Fraction Word Problems

Grade level

Grades 4–5

Time

About 30 minutes

Topic

Math word problems

Answer key

Yes, page 2 of the PDF

Kids practice

Reading word problems, Choosing the operation, Showing work, Multi-step reasoning

What kids do

“Read each problem twice. Draw a model. Show your work. Write the answer.”

Printed on the sheet:

1. 1 A pizza is cut into 8 equal slices. Jay eats 3 slices. What fraction of the pizza is left?
2. 2 Lily ran 3/4 of a mile and then 1/4 of a mile more. How far did she run in all?
3. 3 A class has 20 kids. 1/4 of them bring lunch from home. How many kids bring lunch from home?
4. 4 Ted drank 2/6 of his juice. Ann drank 1/3 of hers. Who drank more? Write the same amount, or the name of the person.
5. 5 A recipe uses 2/3 cup of sugar. Mom makes it 3 times. How many cups of sugar does she use?

Teacher tip

Model one problem with a quick drawing of a pan of brownies or a bag of marbles before kids start.

How to use it

• Let kids act out a problem or draw it before they write a number sentence.
• Have partners solve the same problem two ways and compare.
• Do the first problem together under a document camera, then let kids finish on their own.

Watch for

Answers with no unit. Ask “Twelve what?”

Talk about it

• Which words in the story tell you what to do?
• Which problem was the hardest? What made it hard?

Take it further

Pick one problem and change one number. How does the answer change?

US Letter, prints well in black and white. Free for home and classroom use: print as many copies as you need.