How to Teach Fractions to Visual Learners + Free Printable

If you have a visual learner, then it can be awesome to teach fractions with manipulatives to make things easier to understand.

Teaching fractions can be a tricky concept for many students, but especially for those who learn best by visualizing information. If your student is having trouble understanding fractions, you may need to approach the topic differently.

Here are some great tips for teaching fractions to visual learners. Plus, we’ve included a free printable worksheet at the end of this post that you can use as part of your homeschool math lesson.

I think understanding that your children will need a good concept of grouping, will help you have success with fractions. This is a great time to get practice with skip counting, which is probably why it’s easier to multiply by 2, 5 and 10’s.

We used math blocks for our counters, but you use anything really, coins, M&Ms or raisins. Food has the benefit of serving as a reward should they get the answer correct. I had little rings so that if I asked my son to make a 4 groups of equal parts, then he could place the counters into the 4 groups. You could use anything really but it just made it more visual.

We used Life of Fred: Fractions as a review, I don’t think it works as a teaching tool because there are so little questions at the end of the chapter, there are 5, but my son enjoyed reading the stories and learning along with Fred since he thought he was very humorous.

I’ve heard great things about Key to Fractions and  if I was having issues this is what I would use next.

If you’re looking for a storybook then Full House: An Invitation to Fractions is a fun read.

If you prefer more sturdy manipulatives you can use these tiles: Fraction Tiles and Fraction Tower instead.

If you’d prefer Fraction flashcards, these are fun. My son doesn’t like writing much so anything that he could do orally is a bonus.

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Recommended Fraction Books

Read about fractions and make them fun, then find a good fractions resource book to teach your child fractions along with you.

Key to Fractions: Books 1-4/Set (#53100) by Rassmussen, Steven, Rasmussen, Steven unknown edition [Paperback(1991)]Life of Fred: FractionsThe Wishing Club: A Story About FractionsFractions = Trouble!Full House: An Invitation to FractionsFractions in Disguise: A Math Adventure (Charlesbridge Math Adventures)

 

Recommended Fractions Kits and Games

Your visual learner will appreciate fractions manipulatives so that they can see and touch the fractions and play with them to arrive at their answers.

I happily let my kids use them for their fractions homework questions until they learn to do it in their head.

Learning Resources Rainbow Fraction Teaching System Kithand2mind Plastic Rainbow Fraction Circles, Circle Manipulatives, Fraction Tools for Kids, Math School Supplies, Montessori Math Materials, Classroom Math Manipulatives 4th Grade (15 Sets of 51)Learning Resources Pizza Fraction Fun Game, 13 Fraction Pizzas, 67 Piece Game, Ages 6+Osmo – Pizza Co. – Communication Skills & Math – Educational Learning Games – STEM Toy – Gifts for Kids, Boy & Girl – Age 5 to 12 – For iPad or Fire Tablet ( Base Required)Luma World Fracto Educational Card Game for 8+ Years to Learn Fractions, Mental Math, Memory and Communication, Visual and Number Cards Included, 15 Minutes Game and 2-4 Players, Set of 80 CardsJunior Learning JL485 Fraction Dominoes, Multi 7.8 H x 4.7 L x 1.5 W

 

Download the Fractions Printable Below

Go ahead and print out then laminate these fraction manipulatives to teach your visual learner about fractions.

More Math Activities

Teaching Decimals to Visual Learners