Addition and Subtraction of Fractions Lesson Plan

Common Core Standards (Grades 4 and 5)

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.NF.A.1
Explain why a fraction a/b is equivalent to a fraction (n × a)/(n × b) by using visual fraction
models, with attention to how the number and size of the parts differ even though the two
fractions themselves are the same size. Use this principle to recognize and generate equivalent
fractions.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.NF.B.3.D
Solve word problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions referring to the same whole
and having like denominators, e.g., by using visual fraction models and equations to represent
the problem.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.NF.A.2
Solve word problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions referring to the same whole,
including cases of unlike denominators, e.g., by using visual fraction models or equations to
represent the problem. Use benchmark fractions and number sense of fractions to estimate
mentally and assess the reasonableness of answers.
CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP1
Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP4
Model with mathematics.

Content Objectives:
Students will be able to reason about the addition and subtraction of fractions by using strip
diagrams and number lines to model their thinking.

Prerequisite Knowledge:
● Students must have a solid understanding of what fractions are (numerator, denominator,
etc.)
● Students must know that fractions are parts of wholes and therefore are less than one (we
will review their place on the number line in this lesson as well)
● Students should know the procedure for adding and subtracting fractions with both like
and unlike denominators, especially the procedure for multiplying by the denominators to
make equivalent fractions, but they don’t need to know much about the concept behind
this because that is the focus of this lesson
● Students should have an understanding of how to draw strip diagrams, we will use this to
discover the concepts
● The purpose of this lesson plan is to show students the concept behind adding and
subtracting fractions both of like and unlike denominators by modeling answers with strip
diagrams and number lines
Introduction to the Activities
● The teacher should start out by reviewing the procedure for adding and subtracting
fractions with like and unlike denominators. A few example problems may be helpful just
to make sure that everyone is on the same page. The teacher can do the problems along
with the students as a quick review before the actual lesson.
○ Examples of warm up problems: 3/10+4/10 (add across numerators to get 7/10),
5/7-2/7 (subtract across numerators to get 3/7), 2/5+1/2 (make a common
denominator of 10 and add to get 9/10), etc.
● Next, the teacher should do an example problem up on the board, such as 3/10+1/5 . She
should first review that in order to solve this problem, we would make equivalent
fractions by multiplying 1/5 by 2/2 to get 2/10 so that we had common denominators and
could add the fractions. The teacher should put an emphasis on the term ‘equivalent
fraction’ so that the students become comfortable with this terminology. Although they
understand the procedure, the teacher should now start to introduce the concept behind
this.
● She should draw 2 strip diagrams up on the board that represent 1/5 and 3/10. Now, for
the diagram of 1/5 , she can explain to the students that multiplying the fraction by 2/2
when making equivalent fractions is the same thing as making the pieces in the strip
diagram smaller by a factor of 2. She should then cut each of the 5 pieces of the diagram
into 2 smaller pieces, to make a total of 10. This will show the students that there is
meaning behind the addition of these two fractions.
● The teacher should also make sure that the students understand the language of fractions.
She should point to the above strip diagram example and say that the final strip diagram
has 5 pieces, each of size 1/10. This way, the students will understand how the numbers
in the numerator and denominator are related to the definition of a fraction.

Activity 1: Pizza Activity

1. Bob has a whole pizza to share with his friend Sam. Bob ate 2/6 of the pizza and Sam ate
3/6 of the pizza. How much of the pizza did Bob and Sam eat together? Solve and draw a
strip diagram to show your work and to go along with your answer.

The answer to this problem is 5/6. The students should have added 2/6+3/6=5/6 and represented
this on their strip diagrams. To check student understanding, it may be helpful for the teacher to
have students check in with a friend about what their strip diagram looked like, and then discuss
it as a whole class. If all the students got the correct answer, then she can move on, but if they
did not, a similar problem with different numbers may be helpful to solidify understanding.
2. Bob had 5/8 of a candy bar. Sam has 3/8 of a candy bar of the same size. How much more of
the candy bar does Bob have than Sam?
The solution to this problem is 2/8. Although the problem says the word ‘more’ in the question,
students need to be careful because this is not a problem for addition, but rather subtraction. If
students did not get the correct answer, then another problem of the same type with different
numbers may be helpful for additional practice.

Activity 2: Candy Bar Activity

1. Julia has 2/5 of a candy bar and Alex has 2/10 of a candy bar of the same size. What
fraction of a candy bar do Julia and Alex have together? Draw strip diagrams to help you
solve, and draw a strip diagram for your answer.

The answer to this problem is 6/10. 2/5 is converted into 4/10, so 4/10+2/10 is 6/10.

2. Julia has 2/5 of a candy bar, and Alex has 2/10 of a candy bar of the same size. What fraction
of a candy bar more does Julia have than Alex?

The answer to this problem is 2/10. Since we can convert 2/5 into 4/10, 4/10-2/10 is equal to
2/10.

Activity 3: Number Line Comparison

1. Solve: 1/5+3/5. Use a strip diagram to explain your answer. Also, draw a number line and
use it to solve this problem by showing your thinking and counting.

The answer to this problem is 4/5. The students should have added 1+3 as the numerator and
kept the 5 as the denominator. Also, the students should have drawn a number line with ⅕ on it
and their counting up to ⅘ on it. Since this is a new concept, the teacher may want to talk about
how to go about drawing this number line if the students did not get the answer right away. For
example, she could elaborate on how to divide the number line up into equal spaced pieces. Most
importantly, the spacing should reflect the denominator of the fractions.
2. Solve 2/5+2/10. Show your work and draw a strip diagram to help you solve. Also, be sure to
include a sentence that describes what your drawing shows.

The answer to this problem is 6/10. The students should have made equivalent fractions and then
added across the numerators.

4. Solve 3/5 + 4/5 . Show your work using a strip diagram (or 2) and draw a final strip diagram
to depict your answer. Finally, solve the problem again using a number line and the ‘counting
on’ strategy.

The answer is 7/5. The number line should be neat and have adequate spacing between numbers.
Students must understand that the spacing in between each of the numbers is important.

Concluding Ideas

After the students have completed this last activity, the teacher should go over the answers with
her students and address any additional misunderstandings. Similar problems with different
numbers can be used as additional practice to address any lingering concerns.