Fraction Warm-Ups: 20 No-Calculator Starters

20 ready-to-project fraction starters for the first five minutes of class. Each no-calculator puzzle has one small twist, so the obvious answer is usually wrong. Worked solutions included.

Fractions are where a lot of students quietly give up. These puzzles get them thinking instead: each one sits on its own slide, is quick to read, can be solved in a couple of minutes, and has one small twist that catches students who rush. That’s what gets them talking, arguing and explaining how they know.

What’s included

• 20 puzzle slides (16:9, ready to project)
• A printable student answer sheet (A4)
• Answers with full worked solutions for every puzzle
• A how-to-use page and a topic list, so you can match a puzzle to what you’re teaching

Topics covered

Fraction of an amount, ordering and comparing fractions, adding, multiplying and dividing fractions, equivalent fractions, mixed numbers, fractions and decimals, fraction of a shape, working backwards, sharing, scaling a recipe, and a fraction sequence.

How to use it

Step 1: Put a puzzle on the board as students come in.
Step 2: No calculators. Give them 2 to 3 minutes.
Step 3: Ask for answers, and ask how they know.
Step 4: Reveal the worked solution.

Every answer has been checked, and the shaded-shape diagram is drawn accurately.

Suits KS3 (England and Wales), S1 to S3 (Scotland) and Junior Cycle (Ireland), ages 11 to 15.

Made by Rough Work Games. More puzzles every day at @roughworkgames.