Multiplying fractions
Multiplying does not always make things bigger. Half of eight is four.
What this skill is
Adding fractions is counting units. Three fifths plus one fifth is four fifths because you are counting fifths; the size of the piece does not change, which is why the bottom number does not either.
Three ways to teach it at home
- Say the unit out loud: three fifths plus one fifth is four fifths, because you are counting fifths.
- If they add the bottoms, go back to the number line and show that the pieces did not change size.
- Only introduce unlike denominators once equivalence is solid on the line.
Where this sits in the ladder
Opens next
This is the top of its strand.
Questions people actually ask
What grade is "multiplying fractions"?
It sits in grade 5 in most sequences, and it is aligned to 5.NF.B.4. In Ladderbug it opens once adding fractions with different bottoms and big multiplication with the area model are solid — grade labels are a rough guide, and readiness is what actually matters.
Is this game free?
Yes. This page needs no account, no email and no card, and there are no advertisements. It saves progress in your own browser.
What mistakes should I watch for?
Believes multiplying always increases. We probe for it deliberately by offering that exact wrong answer as a choice, and if a child picks it twice we go back to equal groups and arrays rather than repeating the same question.
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