Mathematics

Intermediate

50 mins

Teacher/Student led

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Learning Outcomes

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Ordering Simple Fractions

Order three or more fractions with the same denominator from smallest to biggest, using fraction strips to compare shaded lengths and prove your ordering.

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1 Getting Started
2 Watch and Notice
3 Try It Together
4 Order the Fifths in Your Copy
5 Class Challenge
Pupil practice

1 - Getting Started ~4 mins

Illustration for Getting Started Here are three strips of the very same length, and each one is cut into eight equal parts. One has two parts shaded, one has five parts shaded, one has seven parts shaded, all jumbled up. Think quietly for a moment, then put your hand up: if we wanted to line them up from smallest to biggest, which strip should come first?

Teacher Notes

Give five seconds of quiet think-time before any hands go up. Take two or three hands-up answers, not open call-outs. You are only fishing for the idea that smallest shaded goes first — don't confirm or correct yet; the model step does the teaching. These are the same three eighths strips (two, five and seven shaded) we come back to in Watch and Notice, so pupils will recognise them.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+5 XP

2 - Watch and Notice ~9 mins

Three sets of fraction strips appear on screen — fifths, then quarters, then eighths. In each set the bottom number stays the same, so watch how much of each strip is shaded. For the quarters, predict which strip lands in the middle and keep it in your head until we check.

Teacher Notes

Fifths (1/5, 3/5, 4/5): same bottom number, so count the shaded parts — one, three, four. Point to each shaded run as you count. Shortest is 1/5, longest 4/5; order 1/5, 3/5, 4/5.

Quarters (1/4, 2/4, 3/4): take two hands-up guesses for the middle before confirming 2/4; least shaded 1/4, most 3/4. Don't read the answer off screen first.

Eighths (2/8, 5/8, 7/8): these are the jumbled strips from Getting Started — same two, five, seven shaded parts. Get pupils to say 'same bottom number, so we just count the shaded parts.' Count two, five, seven; shortest 2/8, longest 7/8; order 2/8, 5/8, 7/8.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+10 XP

3 - Try It Together ~10 mins

Let's order one set together on the board. Here are three eighths strips: two eighths, five eighths and seven eighths. They all share the same bottom number, so we shade each strip, then count the shaded parts to see which is smallest and which is biggest. The comparison line shows the order.

Shade the eighths strips

Teacher Notes

This round is for talking it through together — pupils take turns at the board and the class agrees or corrects out loud.

Call one pupil up to shade the three eighths strips, then a second pupil to say which comes first, next and last. The class checks by looking at the shaded lengths, not just the numbers. Watch for pupils who read the biggest top number as the smallest fraction — revoice: more shaded parts means a bigger fraction when the pieces are the same size. The mixed sets on different bottom numbers come in the Class Challenge next, so keep this one set brisk and clear.

+15 XP

4 - Order the Fifths in Your Copy ~3 mins

COPYBOOK MOMENT

In your maths copy, write these three fractions in order from smallest to biggest, then draw a quick shaded bar beside each one to prove your order is right:

one fifth
four fifths
two fifths

Shade one part for one fifth, two parts for two fifths and four parts for four fifths, and check the bars get longer as you go down.

Teacher Notes

Walk the room glancing at whether the shaded bars get longer down the page — this is whole-class copybook practice, not marking. Nudge anyone who ordered by the numbers alone to check against their shaded bars.

+10 XP

5 - Class Challenge ~10 mins

Key point

Now we work through four sets together on the board. For each one, shade the three strips, then read the comparison line to see them from smallest to biggest. We take them one at a time, checking each set before the next appears. The tenths set is the trickiest, so we save it for last.

Shade each set, then read the order

Teacher Notes

These are the practice questions — pupils take turns at the board, check each answer, and the class confirms before moving on. Keep the board work brisk rather than over-explaining.

The four sets are: one quarter, two quarters, three quarters; one fifth, two fifths, four fifths; two eighths, five eighths, seven eighths; and three tenths, six tenths, nine tenths. Individual pupils come up to shade each set; the class predicts the order first, then the comparison line confirms it. On the tenths set, watch for pupils confusing six tenths and nine tenths — remind them to count the shaded parts, not eyeball the length. Use the ✓ as part of your narration: yes, that's it — smallest shaded first.

+15 XP

Pupil practice

Module 3 · Fractions and First Decimals Number

Lesson 35 · Ordering Simple Fractions

Download Activity Book page (PDF)

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Ordering Simple Fractions

Teacher Class Feed

1 - Getting Started ~4 mins

2 - Watch and Notice ~9 mins

3 - Try It Together ~10 mins

Shade the eighths strips

4 - Order the Fifths in Your Copy ~3 mins

5 - Class Challenge ~10 mins

Shade each set, then read the order

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