Fraction Chart
A fraction chart, or fraction wall, lines up bars of equal length split into halves, thirds, quarters and so on, so equivalent fractions sit above one another. Choose the smallest fraction, whether to show decimals and percents, and colour, and the chart is drawn to fit your paper.
Your sheet
Printing: choose Actual size or 100%, not “Fit to page”, so 1 cm prints as 1 cm. How to check.
How is the wall built?
Row d is one bar split into d equal parts, each of width 1/d of the bar. Two fractions are equivalent when their parts end at the same point: a/b = c/d exactly when a × d = b × c.
Worked example. On an A4 chart the bars are 186 mm long. In the quarters row each part is 46.5 mm; in the twelfths row each is 15.5 mm, so three twelfths end at 46.5 mm, level with one quarter: 3/12 = 1/4 = 0.25 = 25%. One third is 62 mm, which no quarter or eighth reaches, so thirds have no equivalent in those rows.
Teaching with a fraction wall
Start with the whole and the halves, then ask where a quarter would end before showing the row. Children predict, then check. Cutting a printed chart into strips turns it into fraction tiles that can be laid against one another, which is how most lessons on equivalence begin.
Adding fractions with the chart
To add 1/2 and 1/4, lay a half and a quarter end to end and find the row where the total lands on a line: three quarters. The chart shows why a common denominator is needed: the sum can only be named in a row whose parts fit both pieces.
Fractions, decimals and percents together
With the extra labels on, the chart doubles as a conversion table: 1/8 = 0.125 = 12.5%, 1/5 = 0.2 = 20%. The number line from 0 to 1 in tenths is the natural partner for the decimals.
Questions about fraction charts
What is a fraction chart?
A set of bars, all the same length, each split into equal parts: one whole, then halves, thirds, quarters and so on. Because the bars line up, you can see at a glance that 1/2 = 2/4 = 3/6, and that 1/3 is bigger than 1/4. It is also called a fraction wall or fraction strips.
Which fractions does it show?
Every unit fraction from 1 down to the smallest you choose, up to 1/16. The default stops at twelfths, which covers everything in primary and middle school and shows the common equivalents.
What are the decimals and percents for?
Linking the three notations. 1/4 = 0.25 = 25%; 1/3 = 0.333… = 33.33%, where the dots mean the digits repeat. Turn either off for a plainer chart.
How do I compare fractions with the chart?
Find each fraction’s bar and count parts from the left. 2/3 reaches further than 3/5, so 2/3 is bigger. Where two fractions end at the same place they are equivalent: 3/4 and 9/12, for example.
Can I colour the bars?
Yes, the default shades each row in a soft colour so the rows are easy to tell apart. Untick “Colored bars” for a black-and-white chart that photocopies cleanly, or for children to colour themselves.