Fraction Chart
Fraction strips are the honest way to see fractions: same-length bars split into 2, 3, 4 … 12 parts, stacked so the equivalences line up by themselves — 1/2 meets 2/4 meets 3/6. Print the chart, then read what folding and comparing with strips teaches that circles never will.
Fraction Chart — Strips to 1/12
Why bars beat circles for teaching fractions
A fraction is a number, and the best way to see a number is on a length. Bar-model strips keep every fraction the same total length and vary only the cuts, so comparing fractions becomes literally lining them up: 1/3 falls short of 2/5, 3/4 edges out 2/3, and 1/2 aligns exactly with 2/4, 4/8 and 6/12. Those alignments are the chart's whole curriculum — equivalence, comparison and benchmarks, visible without a single rule being stated.
Circles, the traditional fraction picture, hide all of that: wedge angles are hard to compare across different denominators, and nothing lines up with anything. Strips also fold — physically halving the 1/2 bar makes 1/4, and halving again makes 1/8 — which turns the equivalence table into a discovery instead of a lecture. Print on cardstock if you can; strips get handled.
Teaching tips
Fold, don't tell
Hand over the printed chart and ask for folds: fold 1/2 in half, what appears? Fold a third bar into sixths by matching edges? Every correct fold is an equivalence the child now owns.
Find the twin
Lay 2/3 of the thirds-bar next to 8/12 of the twelfths-bar — same length. Hunt-the-twin across the whole chart is the equivalence table without the table.
Benchmark against 1/2 first
Is 5/8 more or less than half? The 1/2 strip answers in one glance. Estimating against one-half before comparing exactly is the habit grade 4-5 tests reward.
Cut the chart into a permanent manipulative
Slice each row into its parts and keep the set in an envelope. A cut-up chart survives a year of desk work; an intact one is a poster by Thursday.
Frequently asked questions
What is a fraction chart?
A set of same-length bars — the fraction strips above — each divided into a different number of equal parts, from one whole through twelfths. Stacking them makes fraction sizes, equivalences and comparisons visible by alignment.
How do you use fraction strips?
Compare (lay 3/4 next to 2/3 and see which is longer), find equivalences (1/2 aligns with 2/4, 3/6, 4/8 and 6/12), and fold to discover them (halving a bar doubles the denominator). Cut into pieces, they become a permanent hands-on manipulative.
What grade are fraction charts for?
Grade 3 introduces halves, thirds, fourths, sixths and eighths; grade 4 adds equivalences and comparisons with different denominators; grade 5 extends to tenths and hundredths alongside decimals. The same printed chart serves all three years.
Why use fraction strips instead of circles?
Lengths compare; wedge angles do not. Same-length bars let any two fractions line up for a direct visual comparison across denominators — which is exactly the skill fraction notation itself does not show.