A Way to Make Fractions Easier to Understand


A Way to Make Fractions Easier to Understand

By Thomas Courtney 
edutopia.org
5 min



New teachers can help simplify the complexities of fractions for students by using an unexpected tool—a multiplication chart.


Multiplication facts. I’ve never understood why, in all the years I’ve taught mathematics, we’re still calling the rows and columns of skip-counted numbers multiplication facts. To my mind, aren’t they also division facts? 5 x 6 is 30, which I can locate on my multiplication chart fairly easily, but 30 divided by 5 has only one answer, 6. All I have to do is find 30 on the chart, locate 5 to the left, and I’ll find 6 above. Voilà. I can use the exact same chart as a division facts chart to find the answer, if I think of it that way.

I’ve also discovered other uses for this chart, which can help new teachers make more complex math concepts easier for students to understand.

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