MATERIALS

● Rulers
● Chocolate bars
● Smartboard number lines
● Yarn
● Fraction cards (each set of fractions a different color (halves, thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths,
eighths
● Paper clips
● Worksheet

PREPARATION
● Have smartboard loaded
● Have yarn taped across the classroom with 0 and 1 marked
● Have fraction cards created, printed, and cut
● Have worksheets printed

INTRO (20 min)

● What do we use number lines for?
○ Adding
○ Subtracting
○ Multiplying
○ Dividing
● Show a ruler
○ How is this like a number line?
○ If we say that a whole ruler is 12/12 (inches), what if I had a ruler that was only
six inches long?
○ What if I had a ruler that was only 1 inch long?
○ 11 inches?
○ 3 inches?
● Show chocolate bar
○ How many pieces of chocolate are in this chocolate bar?
■ 12
○ If I break it into thirds (three rows of four pieces) and just take one of the three
pieces, how many pieces of chocolate are in this one piece?
■ Does this piece look kind of like a number line?
● Show on a piece of paper how it would be a number line that is
split into four sections (4/4)
■ What if I put another one of the three pieces beside the first (line the two
pieces up horizontally)?
● Now what is my total number of sections on my number line?
○ 8/8
■ Who can tell me what would happen if I line up this last piece with the
other two?
● Line them up
 ● 12/12
■ Now I have a number line that is broken into 12 sections
● If I eat one of these three pieces, what fraction of my number line
will I have left?
○ 8/12
● What if I eat 10 of the sections on my number line?
○ 2/12
○ Each student gets three pieces of a chocolate bars
■ Maybe do a multi-step math problem? (Take out, not 3rd grade level)
● I have 6 chocolate bars and each chocolate bar has 12 pieces of
chocolate. There are 21 students in the classroom and I want to
give each student the same amount of chocolate. How many
pieces of chocolate will each student get?
○ 6 x 12 = 72
○ 72/21 = 3 R9
○ Each student would get 3 pieces

IMPLEMENTATION (30 min)

● SmartBoard Activity
○ If I have this number line up here, what is my total number of pieces?
■ Point out that you can’t count the lines to see how many pieces there are,
you have to count the spaces
■ Show leftover pieces of the chocolate bars
● Lay them out as if they are a number line
● Count the “lines” between the pieces, what is the total?
● Count the number of pieces there are, what is the total?
● Which total is right?
■ Go back to the number line on the board
■ Show how we count the “pieces” not the lines
■ Use hops to count
■ What is my total number of pieces on the number line?
■ If I put a dot on this line (mark the middle), what fraction of my number
line do I have?
● One out of two pieces
● How do I write that as a fraction?
○ ½
○ Continue doing this for the rest of the slides
■ Count the number of pieces on the number line using hops
■ Mark one of the lines with a dot on each number line and decide what the
fraction is
■ Have students write their guesses for the fraction on their desks before
going over it together for each one
● Yarn activity
○ Stretch the piece of yarn out across the classroom
 ○ Have 0 and 1 marked on the number line (at the beginning and end)
○ Give each student a different fraction (up to eighths)
○ Explain that students are going to have to put the fractions in order on the
number line
■ Make each set of fractions (ex. Halves, fourths, thirds, sixths, eighths,
etc…) a different color to help give students more of a visual when
splitting up the piece of yarn
○ Have students come up in groups based on their set of fractions and put theirs
on the number line
○ Once everyone has put their fraction on the number line, go over it together
■ Point out the fractions that are bigger/smaller than others
■ Show how one line can be divided many different ways

CLOSURE (15 min)

● Worksheet
○ Have students complete a worksheet at the end of the lesson for extra practice