A 45-minute Grade 4 review of equivalent fractions: a board-ready teaching sequence, eight student questions, one worked example, answers and a handover note.
For a substitute covering a class that has already met halves, thirds and fourths.
Pencils, plain paper and a board are enough. Display or copy the prompts, or print the separate student pages. Download the teacher copy for offline use.
Put the two warm-up prompts on the board or hand out the student pages. Learners sketch equal-length wholes and answer quietly.
Draw two equal-length rectangles. Shade half of each. Split each half of the second rectangle into two equal parts. Read the worked example together; the shaded endpoint stays fixed.
Use c3 and c6. One partner draws; the other checks the whole and equal parts. Swap roles. Ask both to explain the equal sign.
Use c7 and h2. Learners may draw strips. If stuck, return to halves and fourths. Early finishers find a third name for 2/3.
Discuss h2: adding one to each number changes 2/3 to 3/4. Use same-sized wholes split into twelfths to compare 8/12 and 9/12.
Ask e1 and e2 independently. Keep the two answers together and leave the brief handover notes for the class teacher.
Student pages and teacher answers are separate. Download an HTML file to keep or use your browser to print or save as PDF.
Read aloud, copy onto a board or use the separate student download. Open an answer only when you are ready to discuss it.
Sketch the whole and label the fraction. Use equal-sized wholes when comparing.
1/2
Follow-up: Changes one part of a fraction without scaling numerator and denominator by the same factor. Shade 2/3 of a fixed strip and split each third into two equal parts. Count four shaded sixths out of six. Write ×2 on both arrows and check that the shaded endpoint did not move.
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Follow-up: Changes one part of a fraction without scaling numerator and denominator by the same factor. Shade 2/3 of a fixed strip and split each third into two equal parts. Count four shaded sixths out of six. Write ×2 on both arrows and check that the shaded endpoint did not move.
Worked example: 1/2 = 2/4. The whole and shaded amount stayed the same; only the number and size of the parts changed.
Draw, compare and explain. Take turns checking the same whole and equal parts.
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Follow-up: Changes one part of a fraction without scaling numerator and denominator by the same factor. Shade 2/3 of a fixed strip and split each third into two equal parts. Count four shaded sixths out of six. Write ×2 on both arrows and check that the shaded endpoint did not move.
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Follow-up: Changes one part of a fraction without scaling numerator and denominator by the same factor. Shade 2/3 of a fixed strip and split each third into two equal parts. Count four shaded sixths out of six. Write ×2 on both arrows and check that the shaded endpoint did not move.
Use a drawing or a calculation to support each answer.
2/3
Follow-up: Changes one part of a fraction without scaling numerator and denominator by the same factor. Shade 2/3 of a fixed strip and split each third into two equal parts. Count four shaded sixths out of six. Write ×2 on both arrows and check that the shaded endpoint did not move.
Two thirds is 8/12 and three fourths is 9/12, so their endpoints differ.
Follow-up: Adds the same number to numerator and denominator and claims the fraction stays equal. Put 2/3 and 3/4 on the same twelfths strip: 8/12 and 9/12 have different endpoints. Contrast this with 2/3 = 4/6, where both counts are multiplied by two.
Complete both without help. Explain the equal amount, not just a rule.
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Follow-up: Changes one part of a fraction without scaling numerator and denominator by the same factor. Shade 2/3 of a fixed strip and split each third into two equal parts. Count four shaded sixths out of six. Write ×2 on both arrows and check that the shaded endpoint did not move.
Repartition the same whole: each half becomes two fourths, and the shaded endpoint stays fixed.
Follow-up: Changes one part of a fraction without scaling numerator and denominator by the same factor. Shade 2/3 of a fixed strip and split each third into two equal parts. Count four shaded sixths out of six. Write ×2 on both arrows and check that the shaded endpoint did not move.
Keep the whole fixed and use halves and fourths. Model the partition through the entire rectangle, then let the learner redraw it.
Open the equivalence intervention →Record which sections were completed and what the exit explanations show. The teacher download includes a short handover note.
Open the original complete lesson →