In year 5, the fractions unit builds on previous learning in key stage two and continues to progress it further. Children will work on comparing and ordering fractions, equivalent fractions, decimals and percentages, mixed numbers and improper fractions, calculating with fractions and exploring decimals further.
This page aims to provide you with all the Year 5 Fractions National Curriculum objectives, along with some guidance for each objective and a range of games and activities that can be used to meet the learning objective in a play-based way.
Teaching Year 5 Fractions:
| National Curriculum Objective | Things to think about … | Playful Learning Games |
| Compare and order fractions whose denominators are all multiples of the same number. | Children can use their knowledge of equivalent fractions to help them to compare and order fractions, with the same or different denominators. Check that children know how to correctly use the greater than and less than signs. Ensure that children understand that the bigger the denominator the smaller the fraction – encourage children to provide their own reasoning about this to show their understanding. | Comparing Fractions Pong Fractions Would you Rather |
| Identify, name and write equivalent fractions of a given fraction, represented visually, including tenths and hundredths. | Children have explored equivalent fractions in years 3 and 4 but they will now progress to seeing how unit fractions can be expressed in other forms, e.g. 1/3 = 2/6. Children may need to see lots of visual representations of these fractions to understand how and why they are equivalent fractions. Children will need to apply their times table knowledge to help them find equivalent fractions. | Equivalent Fractions Four in a Row |
| Recognise mixed numbers and improper fractions and convert from one form to the other and write mathematical statements > 1 as a mixed number [for example, 2/5 + 4/5 = 6/5 = 1 1/5]. | In this objective, children will need to use visual representations and hands-on resources to understand how to convert mixed numbers and improper fractions. Cubes and bar models are useful resources for this. | Top It and Swap It! |
| Add and subtract fractions with the same denominator and denominators that are multiples of the same number. | Children build on this previous learning by adding more than 2 fractions together and also adding and subtracting fractions with different denominators. Ensure children know that they should only add or subtract the numerators, not the denominators. Children should also look carefully at the calculations to ensure they are answering the question correctly. | Fraction Run Fraction Pile-Up |
| Multiply proper fractions and mixed numbers by whole numbers, supported by materials and diagrams. | For this objective, children are introduced to multiplying fractions for the first time. Using knowledge of multiplication as repeated addition can help children to understand how to multiply fractions. Use of bar models also works well with this objective. A common misconception is for children to think that the answer to 4 x 1/10 will give an answer greater than 4. Children may also multiply both the numerator and the denominator by the integer and become confused with the process for finding equivalent fractions and multiplying fractions by integers. | Calculate and Find – Multiplying Fractions Fraction Times |
| Read and write decimal numbers as fractions [for example, 0.71 = 71/100]. | In this objective, children consolidate previous learning in year 4 about tenths as decimals and also move onto writing hundredths as decimals and fractions. Using place value knowledge, ensure children understand the difference between hundreds and hundredths. Children will need lots of practise in converting decimals into tenths and hundredths and counting in tenths and hundredths. | Fractions and Decimals Three in a Row Decimal Pairs |
| Recognise and use thousandths and relate them to tenths, hundredths and decimal equivalents. | This is the first time that children will have explored thousandths so visual resources will be needed to aid children’s understanding. Children need to understand that a thousandth is 1 whole split into 1,000 equal parts. Using a thousand piece of base 10 representing the whole and a one piece representing a thousandth is a good visual. Place value counters are also a useful tool once children have a good understanding of what a thousandth is. A common misconception is for children to think that 1/1000 is bigger than 1/100 as 1000 is bigger than 100. | Decimal Pairs Thousandths Bump! |
| Round decimals with two decimal places to the nearest whole number and to one decimal place. | In year 4, children learnt how to round decimals to the nearest whole number and in year 5 they are now learning how to round numbers with 1 and 2 decimal places to the nearest whole number and to 1 decimal place. Number lines are always a great tool to use for rounding numbers. Common misconceptions are children thinking that zero is not a whole number, the words ’rounding down’ being interpreted incorrectly and reading decimals numbers incorrectly which, in turn, can lead to incorrect rounding. | Rounding Cups Rounding Shove Ha’penny |
| Read, write, order and compare numbers with up to three decimal places. | Children have experience of doing this from year 4, where they looked at numbers with up to 2 decimal places and in year 5 they now progress to numbers with up to 3 decimal places. Place value grids are a useful tool for this objective. It’s important for children to think carefully about the value of each digit in a number with 3 decimal places so as not to confuse which one is greater or smaller. | Crocodile Pong Decimal Duel |
| Solve problems involving numbers up to three decimal places. | Children now need to use their knowledge from the previous objectives to solve decimal number problems. | |
| Recognise the per cent symbol (%) and understand that per cent relates to ‘number of parts per hundred’, and write percentages as a fraction with denominator 100, and as a decimal. | This is the first time that children will have encountered percentages. The word per cent means out of 100 or the number of parts per 100. Hundred squares are useful tools for learning about percentages. A common misconception is for children to think that 1% means 1 part, regardless of whether there are 100 parts in total or not. | Build the Roof FDP Triangles Percentage Fill |
| Solve problems which require knowing percentage and decimal equivalents of 1/2, 1/4, 1/5, 2/5, 4/5 and those fractions with a denominator of a multiple of 10 or 25. | This objective is covered again in year 6, so in year 5, children are expected to learn the basic fractions to convert to decimals and percentages. See my explanation of how we can use a hundred square to visually represent the equivalences. | Fractions and Decimals Three In a Row Decimal Colour |