Fraction Wall

Interactive Fraction Wall

Click on a colour in the palette to select it then click on any brick in the wall to apply that colour.
Click "Add Layer" to add more fractions to the wall. Click "Reset Colors" to clear all highlighting.

Use this chart to help answer questions involving fractions. The tenths row is also useful when thinking about fractions converted to decimals or percentages and vica versa.

Try one of our three versions of the fractions sorting activity. They can be used in different ways, by individuals or groups and with different levels of support.)

There are many more fraction activities, visual aids and lesson starters on the Fractions topic page.

Here are some fraction identities that can be easily shown on the fraction wall:

Equivalent Fractions

$$ \dfrac{1}{2} = \dfrac{3}{6} $$

$$ \dfrac{3}{5} = \dfrac{6}{10} $$

$$ \dfrac{2}{4} = \dfrac{4}{8} = \dfrac{6}{12} $$

$$ \dfrac{5}{7} \neq \dfrac{8}{11} $$

Addition

$$ \dfrac{1}{4} + \dfrac{1}{4} = \dfrac{1}{2} $$

$$ \dfrac{1}{2} + \dfrac{1}{3} = \dfrac{5}{6} $$

$$ \dfrac{1}{6} + \dfrac{1}{2} = \dfrac{2}{3} $$

$$ \dfrac{1}{2} + \dfrac{1}{3} \neq \dfrac{2}{5} $$

Subtraction

$$ \dfrac{1}{2} - \dfrac{1}{6} = \dfrac{1}{3} $$

$$ \dfrac{6}{9} - \dfrac{1}{3} = \dfrac{4}{12} $$

$$ \dfrac{7}{10} - \dfrac{1}{4} \neq \dfrac{6}{6} $$

Multiplication

$$ 8 \times \dfrac{1}{10} = \dfrac{4}{5} $$

Division

$$ \dfrac{10}{12} \div 5 = \dfrac{1}{6} $$

Transum,

Friday, October 19, 2018

"Here is another well-worn and time-honoured idea for a classroom display. A fraction wall provides pupils with a clear visualisation of equivalent fractions, something that many pupils struggle with in both Primary and Secondary schools. Bring out the artist in yourself to choose a colour scheme for the bricks and then share a photograph of your masterpiece!"

Jalessa,

Thursday, March 11, 2021

"On the fraction wall twelfths should also be included.

[Transum: Thanks for your suggestion Jalessa. A button has now been provided for you to add as many layers to the wall as you wish (or that your computer can cope with !). I hope that helps.]"

Michael Augoustinos, Sydney, Australia

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

"I always use the fraction wall as the cornerstone of my teaching of fractions. I have found that you can do so much with it.

I usually start off by providing students with a 6 sided dice to act as the numerator and a 12 sided dice to act as the denominator (the old version only went up to 12). Students take turns rolling their dice and filling in the fraction they have rolled on the fraction wall, each student choosing a colour to different from the other. Whoever fills up most of the board wins. A further challenge is determining who actually won or approximately how much each colour has. The game does not have to be 1 on 1, it can be a 3 or 4 way battle between individual students or groups of students. I often start playing as a whole class in table groups with each group choosing a different colour.

What is great about that game is that it introduces students to equivalent fractions e.g. if a student rolls 1/4 but all the quarters are already filled in, they need to try and find the 1/4 elsewhere e.g. 2/8 or 3/12. I often demonstrate on the smart board with an interactive pen how equivalent fractions 'line up' with each other and this is especially evident when you highlight them in the same colour and from the same side e.g. 1/2, 2/4, 3/6 and so on. There are printable versions of the fraction wall in which I encourage students to use a ruler to 'line up' equivalent fractions.

Furthermore, it introduces students to the idea of adding fractions with like or unlike denominators e.g. if a student rolls 6/10 but there is only one tenth left unfilled on the fraction wall, they could fill in for example ½ (which is equivalent to 5/10) and the remaining 1/10, because together that would equal 6/10.

Beyond that, students will find when rolling the dice that often the 6 sided dice (the numerator) will be higher than the 12 sided dice (the denominator) resulting in an improper fraction. When initially playing, I tell students that these rolls are void but I eventually use this to demonstrate how to convert the improper fraction into a mixed numeral on the fraction wall e.g. rolling 5/2 means you could fill in 2 whole rows and half of another row, making 2 and ½ as a mixed numeral. I will be looking at this further with my class tomorrow. The only issue there is that if you play on fraction wall up to twelfths and you roll 6/1 as your first go, the game is over very quickly.

Yesterday, after realising the updated fraction wall on your website allowed for extra rows of fractions beyond twelfths, I gave my students a 12 sided dice to act as the numerator and a 20 sided dice to act as the denominator and posted the link to them in my Google Classroom and instructed them to add rows of fractions up to 20th's.

I have attached an example of a challenge I set my students, using screenshots of fraction walls that I filled in on your old version. "

Three Dice Fractions

Inspired by feedback from Michael (see above), this is a brand-new game you can play by projecting the page onto your whiteboard or letting students access it individually on their devices.

Click the button below to show three dice (or use real dice if you prefer).

The dice roll will generate a fraction:

The numerator is the number on the first die.
The denominator is the sum of the numbers on the other two dice.

Players then fill in bricks on the fraction wall (in a class each person can be given a printed version of this fraction wall) that are equivalent to the fraction shown. If no suitable bricks are available, the player skips that turn.

After a set number of turns, the player who has filled in the most bricks on their fraction wall is the winner.

Curriculum Reference

See the National Curriculum page for links to related online activities and resources.

Colour Palette

Hide/Show Layers