Reducing Fractions Poster
Congratulations on your purchase of this Really Good Stuff®
Reducing Fractions Poster—a step-by-step resource for
students to refer to when reducing fractions.
This Really Good Stuff® product includes:
• Reducing Fractions Poster, laminated
• This Really Good Stuff® Activity Guide
Displaying the Reducing Fractions Poster
Before displaying the Reducing Fractions Poster, make copies of
this Really Good Stuff® Activity Guide and file the pages for
future use. Or, download another copy of it from our Web site at
www.reallygoodstuff.com. Display the Poster where students will
be able to see it easily.
Introducing the Reducing Fractions Poster
Pointing to the Poster, indicate that you are going to use this
Reducing Fractions Poster to help students review how to reduce
fractions. Remind students that reducing fractions means writing
a fraction in its simplest form by using the smallest number
possible. In other words, they have to find an equivalent fraction in
which the numerator and the denominator are as small as
possible. When a fraction is reduced, there should be no number
(except 1) that can be divided evenly into both the numerator and
the denominator. Be sure to remind students that reducing
fractions makes fractions easier to understand.
1. Point to the original fraction 12/16 on the Poster. Tell
them that it is hard to picture what twelve-sixteenths
of a cake might look like. Say that you are going to
model how to reduce this fraction, and that afterward
they will find out that it’s a fraction they are very
familiar with.
2. Thinking aloud, list all the possible factors of the
numerator 12: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12 and the denominator 16:
1, 2, 4, 8, 16.
3. Remind students that the greatest common factor is
the largest factor that both the numerator and
denominator share. Refer students back to the factors
you wrote down for the numerator and the denominator.
Have students tell you that the greatest common
factor (GCF) for 12/16 is 4.
4. Review that in order to reduce a fraction to its lowest
term, you need to divide the numerator and the
denominator by the GCF. Model how you can divide both
numbers evenly by 4.
5. So 12/16 reduces to 3/4. Point out how it is a lot
easier to visualize three quarters of a cake than
twelve-sixteenths of a cake.
Reducing Fractions Reproducible
Copy and distribute the Reducing Fractions Reproducible.
Model how to write the first two fractions on the Reducing
Fractions Reproducible in their simplest forms, having
students help you with each step:
Original
Fraction
All Possible
Factors
6
18
1, 2, 3, 6
1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 18
15
25
1, 3, 5, 15
1, 5, 25
Greatest
Common
Factor (GCF)
6
5
Helping Teachers Make A Difference®
Divided by
the GCF
Reduced
Fraction
6÷6
18÷6
=
1
3
15÷5
25÷5
=
3
5
Tell students that the worksheet has 10 more fractions
to reduce to lowest terms. Encourage students to follow
each step on the Reducing Fractions Poster to find
their answers.
Reduced Fraction Card Game
Copy and distribute the Reduced Fraction Card Game
Reproducible. Before starting the game, have students cut
apart the cards. Have them store their cards in a zippered
plastic bag. Post the directions below where the class can
easily read them. Have the students use their cards to
follow along as you demonstrate how to play the game.
Players: 2 to 4 students
Materials:
• Reduced Fraction cards
• Pen and paper for each player
Object: To practice reducing fractions to their simplest form
How to Play:
1. Place the cards in a stack facedown. Determine who will
go first.
2. The first player flips a card over. If the fraction is shown
in its simplest form, the player keeps the card. If the
fraction is not in its lowest term, the player must give
the correct lowest term in order to keep the card. If the
player gives an incorrect fraction, the player must turn
the card back over.
3. Play continues until all of the cards have been played
and answered correctly. The player with the most cards
wins the game.
After modeling the game, use it as a math center activity.
Make up an answer sheet, laminate it, and keep it with the
game materials so that students can self-check. For those
students who need extra support, make a separate deck of
cards using fractions whose numerators and denominators
have fewer factors.
Other Math Center Ideas:
• Reducing Fractions Bingo Game: Create a set of Bingo
cards with reduced fractions in each square, and a set
of corresponding call cards with equivalent fractions
that need reducing. Use the call cards to announce an
unreduced fraction, and lay them down faceup for
checking when a student calls Bingo. Using the
Reducing Fractions Poster as a reference, players
convert the called-out fraction and check to see if they
have an equivalent reduced fraction on their Bingo card.
The first player with five chips in a row wins.
• Reducing Fractions Memory Game: Make sets of
cards for the game by creating cards with un-reduced
fractions and cards to match with their equivalent
reduced fractions. Students play by spreading out the
cards facedown in a grid of rows and columns. One by
one, players turn over two cards. If a player has a
match, he or she keeps the two cards. If not, the player
has to turn the cards facedown and the next player
takes a turn. The player with the most cards wins.
All activity guides can be found online:
© 2010 Really Good Stuff
®
1-800-366-1920 www.reallygoodstuff.com Made in USA #159252
Reducing Fractions Reproducible
Helping Teachers Make A Difference®
© 2010 Really Good Stuff® 1-800-366-1920 www.reallygoodstuff.com Made in USA #159252
Reduced Fraction Card Game Reproducible
Helping Teachers Make A Difference®
© 2010 Really Good Stuff® 1-800-366-1920 www.reallygoodstuff.com Made in USA #159252