Finding Fractions of Amounts

Finding fractions of amounts is being able to calculate questions such as 1/4 of 16 and 1/3 of 12.  As with everything to do with fractions, it requires a good knowledge of times tables to be able to solve it but as I always say, children need to be given the opportunity to work practically in maths so they first understand what finding a fraction of an amount means.  

Playdoh is a great resource for this and the video below explains how you can use balls of Playdoh to teach children how to find a fraction of an amount.  The key things that children need to understand are:

• In a question such as 1/4 of 16, the number 16 is the total amount you have.
• The denominator (bottom number of the fraction) is the number of groups you need to divide the total amount into.
• The numerator tells you how many of those groups you have.
• I always teach children the little saying, ‘divide by the bottom number and times by the top number’.  I say this as we are working practically so that children can then feel more confident when the Playdoh is taken away.