Printable Introduction to Fractions Worksheets

Introduction to fractions worksheets give children printable fraction practice with the first big ideas: seeing a whole cut into equal parts, naming the parts, and reading and writing them as numbers and words. The sheets run from halves, thirds and fourths through shading, matching, real objects like pizza and egg cartons, and fractions of a set, and every sheet has an answer key.

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Structured, printable skill sheets with step-by-step guidance for Introduction to Fractions.

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About Introduction to Fractions

What this skill is

A fraction names equal parts of a whole. The bottom number says how many equal parts the whole was cut into, and the top number says how many of those parts you are talking about. If a pizza is cut into 8 equal slices and 3 are eaten, 3/8 of the pizza is gone. Children meet this one idea in several ways: shading a picture, writing the fraction a picture shows, matching a fraction to its model, and turning a fraction into a name like three-eighths and back again. These sheets practice all of them, so a child gets more than one way into the same idea.

When children learn it

Children first hear halves, thirds and fourths in 1st and 2nd grade, mostly as parts of shapes (aligned to Common Core 1.G.A.3 and 2.G.A.3). Writing fractions with numbers, one number over another with a line between, starts in 3rd grade (3.NF.A.1). The sheets here follow that path, from the early shape work up to reading, writing and modeling fractions at a 3rd grade level.

Teaching Tips

  • Cut one playdough pizza into 2 big slices and another into 8 small ones. Ask which slice they would rather have if they were hungry. Seeing that more slices make smaller pieces clears up the bottom-number confusion.
  • When writing a fraction from a picture, count in a fixed order. First count every equal part in the whole and write that on the bottom. Then count only the shaded parts and write that on top. Doing it in that order stops the shaded-over-unshaded mistake.
  • Say fractions out loud as you write them. Read 3/8 as three-eighths every time, and ask your child to read the fractions on a measuring cup or recipe card. Hearing and saying the names is how the words and the numbers get connected.

Common Mistakes

  • Writing shaded over unshaded. A picture with 1 shaded part and 3 unshaded parts gets written as 1/3 instead of 1/4. The bottom number is the total number of equal parts, shaded or not.
  • Thinking a bigger bottom number means a bigger piece, so 1/8 looks larger than 1/2 because 8 is larger than 2.
  • Counting parts that are not equal. A shape cut into 4 pieces of different sizes is not in fourths, but children count the pieces and write 1/4 anyway.
  • Reversing the top and bottom numbers when writing a fraction from its name, so three-fourths comes out as 4/3.

More Fractions Concepts

Equal PartsNumerator and DenominatorFraction of a NumberFractions on a Number LineAdding FractionsComparing FractionsCompleting Whole NumbersEquivalent FractionsFraction Word ProblemsOrdering FractionsSubtracting FractionsFractions and DecimalsMixed Numbers and Improper FractionsMultiplying FractionsSimplifying FractionsDividing FractionsMixed Operations with Fractions

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    A fraction is one or more equal parts of a whole. To teach it, start with real things your child can cut, fold or share, then name the parts and write them as numbers. Short sessions with printable introduction to fractions worksheets let your child practice the same idea on paper after the hands-on work.

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