Proper Fractions

Proper fractions, like ¼, ½, ¾ are used frequently in everyday life. Improper fractions such as 9/8, 11/4 are also used, but less frequently by the average person like myself. Today I am narrowing my discussion down to proper fractions.

Every day life Examples

As found in Mathematics: For Elementary School Teachers by O’Daffer et al, a cartoon from the paper provides a good example of how children need to understand fractions. The cartoon shows siblings, a little boy and a little girl, who receive sandwiches for lunch. The girl has her sandwich cut in 1/2 and the boy’s is cut in ¼’s. The girl does not understand why she only gets 2 sandwiches and her little brother gets 4.

A real world example used at the work place is a construction worker, such as a house framer. The framer would use proper fractions with his tape measure with every cut of a board he may use to finish building his project.

An example of how a parent may use proper fractions at home could be when the parent divides up chores at home for her children: there are 6 six jobs to be completed by three of her children. Each child receives 2 chores, splitting the work load into 1/3 per child.

Learning Tools

This video provides some examples with the use of visuals to help generate a deeper understanding of proper fractions and would be useful to show children in your elementary math class:

Since fractions play such a role in our lives, it is important that young children understand them and are able to use them. Dr Mike's Math Games for Kids offers a great idea for a game that can be used to help children understand fractions while having fun.