Adding Fraction with the same Denominator.

Following on from understanding fractions, your child should have a good understanding now of what a fraction actually is. If you have any of the shapes you made you may be able to utilise theese shortly.

Adding two fractions together is very simple if the denominators are the same e.g.

The denominator simply tells us that we are adding wholes divided into 4 parts, it is the numerators that must be added as they tell us how many parts we have.

When first adding fractions, it is essential that children understand the concept of what they are doing and do not just follow a series of steps that appear completely arbitrary without the understanding behind them.

It is therefore a good idea to repeat the above process lots of time, using fractions of the same denominator and cut out shapes, or diagrams on squared paper, to represent the fractions. When they are confident and can explain what they are doing using the correct language, they can move on to fractions with different denominators.