Skills Covered

How to Use This Pack

Nine lesson plans, one for each lesson of a 5th grade unit on adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers with unlike denominators, in teaching order, after an overview page that lays the unit out day by day: a pre-check, the nine lessons, a review and the unit test. Each plan fits on one page. It gives the goal, what to get ready, the words to use, the lesson in five steps with the words to say, questions to ask, common mistakes and what to do about them, and the Animal Math worksheets, maker, tools and quiz for the lesson.

In the Classroom

Print the unit, or just the day's page, and teach from it. Each lesson takes about 45 minutes: a 5 minute warm up, 10 minutes of teaching, 10 minutes together, 15 minutes of practice and an exit ticket at the end. Paper strips cut from one length carry the first lessons, so students see why both fractions must be cut into parts of the same size before adding; tape diagrams and estimates carry the later ones. The exit tickets, pre-check, review and unit test are separate packs, made for these lessons, and the plans use other numbers than they do. Lesson 7.1 (prime numbers and factor trees) is taught in 5th grade in some states, such as Texas and Virginia; skip it if yours teaches it in another grade.

At Home

Teaching at home? Use the warm up and the "Try it together" step as a short lesson with paper strips, a measuring cup or a ruler, and the "Words to use" as the way to talk about it. The mistakes to watch for are the ones most children make.

Tips for Success

• Read the "Watch for" box before the lesson: it is what to listen for while students work
• Ask "What size parts can both fractions be written in?" before every sum and difference
• Estimate with 0, one half and 1 first, then check the answer against the estimate
• Sort the exit tickets into got it, almost and not yet to plan the next day
• Use the help and challenge ideas for small groups during practice