2. How can you make fractions?

Fractions show equal parts of a whole.

You can make a fraction with paper, or other material. To make one half, first find paper. Second, fold the paper into two equal parts. Finally, shade one part. This shaded part shows one-half, which is a common fraction.

Activity: draw a picture of one-fourth.

Imagine your friend will share a cake with four friends. She will need to cut the cake into four equal pieces. Each piece will be one-fourth of the cake. Pretend a sheet of paper is the cake. How many ways can you draw four equal parts?

3. How can you read and write fractions using numbers?

Remember, each part of a fraction has the same size.

A fraction names part of a whole. So, a fraction has two numbers. One number goes on top, and another number goes under it. A line separates the two numbers. The bottom number shows how many pieces are in the whole. The top number shows how many pieces you are talking about. Below, the top number shows the shaded parts. The bottom number shows all of the parts.

Here are some more common fractions. We will learn to compare, add, and subtract them.

Check your understanding.