Fractions
In Year 3, fractions grow from naming a part of a shape into finding a fraction of a set of objects, counting in tenths, and recognising when two fractions are equivalent. Children also compare and order fractions, and add and subtract fractions that share the same bottom number. It helps to picture each fraction as well as work it out, because seeing the parts is what makes the idea stick.
Practise Fractions
Have a guess, even if you're not sure. Get one wrong and we'll show you why, so every miss is a chance to learn.
Timed practice
The same practice, just with a gentle clock. Pick a length and see how many you can answer.
Good to know
The fraction wall
Every bar below is the same whole, just split into more and more equal pieces.
For grown-ups
A fraction is simply a whole split into equal parts, and the bottom number names how big each part is. Once that lands, a lot follows: the more pieces a whole is cut into the smaller each piece becomes, so a third of a cake is bigger than a quarter even though four is the larger number, and adding sevenths to sevenths just counts the pieces while the size of each one stays the same. This is the groundwork for decimals, equivalent families and calculating with fractions in later years, so the time spent making it concrete now pays off well beyond Year 3.
What is in this topic
- Finding a fraction of a shape
- Finding a fraction of an amount
- Counting up and down in tenths
- Recognising equivalent fractions
- Comparing, ordering and adding fractions
How to help at home
Fractions click fastest when they are something to see and share, not just numbers, so keep it hands-on and little and often.
- Cut up real things. Halve a pizza, quarter a sandwich, share grapes into equal piles. A fraction is just how many equal parts you have made and how many you took.
- Find a fraction of an amount one step at a time. For 3/4 of 12, share 12 into 4 equal groups to get 3 in each, then take 3 of those groups: 12 divided by 4 is 3, times 3 is 9.
- Count out loud in tenths, like 1/10, 2/10, 3/10, up to ten tenths and back down again, so they feel that ten tenths make one whole.
- Lean on the fraction wall to compare. The more equal parts you cut a whole into, the smaller each piece, so 1/4 is less than 1/3 even though 4 is the bigger number.
Where children get stuck
The most common trip-up is thinking a bigger bottom number means a bigger fraction. Because 4 is more than 3, children expect 1/4 to be more than 1/3, when it is actually less. The fraction wall fixes this in seconds: the more pieces you slice a whole into, the smaller each piece, so 1/4 sits clearly shorter than 1/3.
The other wobble is adding the bottom numbers too, turning 5/7 + 1/7 into 6/14. Remind them the bottom number just names the size of the piece, and that size does not change. If the pieces are sevenths, 5 of them plus 1 more is simply 6 of them, so the answer is 6/7.