Number Knowledge 12 – Understanding and naming fractions
- Know the meaning of each digit in a fraction.
- Know how a fraction can be said and written as a number and in words.
- Identify, represent and name fractions of shapes and sets.
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Teacher notes
- Students usually find it easier to recall the names of fractions with some association to the digit in the denominator, especially if they are also linked to visual representations of the number of parts, for example thirds / three, fifths / five. Halves and quarters are exceptions to this, so they usually require a little more practice to consolidate.
- Some teachers accept 'fourths', but it is still important to associate this with 'quarters' whenever possible so that students become familiar with both. 'Twoths' or describing fractions, for example 'one, two' or 'one, line, two' or 'one out of two', should be actively discouraged by consistently modelling the necessary vocabulary and setting clear expectations that students will use it. Fractions have a correct name, for example ½ is called one half just as 76 is called seventy-six and not seven and six.
- Skip counting in fractions (1/3, 2/3, 3/3, 4/3, 5/3 …) is useful for developing fraction vocabulary, understanding the relative size of fractions with the same denominator, and recognising that fractions can represent quantities greater than one whole. Using materials alongside the skip count supports development of this understanding (that is, increasing 1/3 with each count, 3/3 making a whole, 4/3 making 1 and 1/3 and so on). Skip counting in fractions is best done using equipment, such as fraction circles or pizza pieces, when it is obvious what the whole is.
- It is important to use words, symbols and materials together as often as possible, and to ensure that a range of fraction models is used (that is, continuous models such as shapes or lengths and discrete models such as sets of objects).
