Get Your Students Adding Fractions with Unlike Denominators

Teachers! Put down that adding fractions worksheet and step away from the photocopier! Don’t give your students another worksheet when you can practise the same key skills with an engaging interactive maze instead!

This fun and challenging digital maze activity set in the fictional Fractional Maze National Park has been designed by our passionate teacher team to allow your students to practise adding fractions with unlike denominators. Students are led through the maze by Fractional Maze National Park’s friendly park rangers. The maze consists of 20 different intersections (questions) that require students to solve an addition equation. Each intersection provides three new potential routes that the students can follow; however, only the correct answer will lead them forward in the maze! The incorrect answers lead to dead ends and force students to turn back and try again.

The questions in the maze are presented in a number of different ways. This helps familarise students with the different strategies that can be used to solve such equations. These include:

• Number lines
• Fraction tiles
• Written algorithms
• Word problems

This resource contains two files that need to be downloaded separately. The first download is the interactive maze. This is available in either a Microsoft PowerPoint file or a Google Slides file. This can be projected onto your interactive screen or assigned to your students in Google Classroom. The second download is a recording sheet for students in an easy-to-print PDF format. This file also contains the answers, so be sure to remove them before distributing them to students!

Why Students Will Love This Fractions Game

As teachers, we know how hard it can be to engage our students in seemingly ‘dry’ topics such as operations with fractions. Here are some of the reasons why your students will love engaging with this digital fractions game:

• Gamification for Increased Engagement – Any teacher or parent knows that games catch students’ attention and make the learning process more enjoyable. This maze draws students in by putting them in control of successfully finding their way through.
• Immediate Feedback – Digital mazes can provide immediate feedback on students’ responses to fractions questions. This instant feedback allows students to correct misconceptions in real-time, promoting a deeper understanding of the concepts being taught.
• Aiming for a Shared Goal – Working through this digital maze as a class fosters deeper collaboration as students work together to achieve the shared goal of successfully navigating the maze. What a great way to enhance communication and teamwork!

Download to Play This Fractions Game 

Use the Download button to access this resource. Remember, you will need both the interactive maze file and the printable recording sheet.

Please be aware that you will be prompted to make a copy of the Google Slides file and save it to your personal drive before accessing it.

Be sure to operate the presentation in Slideshow mode.

This resource was created by Michael Bailey, a Teach Starter collaborator.

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