2. A fraction is a part of a whole.
Sometimes we use other words when we talk
about fractions:
part section
piece portion
slice division
3. Have you ever taken
one slice of pizza
from entire pizza?
Sure you have! Did
you know that when
you remove that one
slice, you are taking
one slice, or a
fraction, of the whole
pizza?!
4. Have you ever eaten
just a few pieces of
candy out of a bag?
When you pour
those candies into
your hand, you are
eating a portion, or a
fraction of the whole
bag of candy!
5. Have you ever
participated in a
team? Did you
know that you’re
one member of
that whole team..a
part of that whole
team…a fraction of
that whole team?!
6. Knowing the parts of a fraction are important!
There are two digits
to consider when
writing fractions: numerator The numerator shows
how many pieces are
taken.
There is a top digit,
which is called the
numerator... The denominator
shows how many
equal pieces are
…and a bottom denominator available to be taken.
digit, which is called
the denominator.
7. Always look at the big picture first…the
whole. How many pieces is the whole divided
into?
• This pie is divided into 2
pieces.
• Therefore, my denominator
would be 2.
2
8. What is the
denominator of the
ballet students in
this whole class?
What is the
denominator of the
cookies on this
entire baking sheet?
9. The correct denominator to
represent all the girls in the ballet
class is5
5
The correct denominator to
represent all the cookies on the
baking sheet is 9
9
10. Now that you know how to find the
denominator, let’s learn about the numerator!
Let’s look at that ballet class again…
11. Let’s answer the question: What fraction of
the class are wearing purple shirts?
First, let’s see how many ballet students are
wearing purple shirts:
12. Two students are wearing purple shirts. That is
going to be our numerator.
Do you remember the denominator from the
previous slides? If so, write it down beneath the
numerator and the fraction bar to find your
answer!
13. Question: What fraction of the class are
wearing purple shirts?
Answer: 2
5
14. In other words, two out of five ballet students in the whole
class are wearing purple shirts! That is a fraction of the class!
What other fractions can you find in this picture?
