Adding and Subtracting Fractions with Unlike Denominators Worksheets 5th Grade

About this resource

Adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators, one step at a time: find the common denominator, make the bottoms the same, then add or subtract the tops. Every rewriting step is a box on the page, so the work is not in the child's head. Page types: a worked example, Find It, Add It, Subtract It, Mixed, Word Problems, Right or Wrong and Cut and Glue. Every student page has a big "My name" line, one short instruction, and answer boxes made for a child's handwriting. Untimed: no clock, no score on the page.

EVERYTHING INSIDE (30 pages: 14 student pages, 16 for you)

• 60 different problems, every one computed in code: 36 sums and 24 differences, bottom numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10 and 12 (the two fractions in a problem never share a bottom number), no problem used twice on the student pages
• Look: one sum and one difference worked out step by step with drawn bars (1 page)
• Find It: write the common denominator. Set A prints the multiples of both bottom numbers; Set B leaves them for the child to write (12 items, 2 pages)
• Add It: the problem, then boxes for the two rewritten fractions and the answer. Set A prints the common denominator; Set B leaves it blank too (8 problems, 2 pages)
• Subtract It: the same layout for subtraction (8 problems, 2 pages)
• Mixed: look at the sign, add or subtract, no steps printed, room to show the work (4 problems, 1 page)
• Word Problems: two short stories a page with invented names, a big work box (1.5 in tall) and an answer line (4 stories, 2 pages)
• Right or Wrong: Sam says the answer is ...; circle right or wrong (6 claims, 3 right and 3 wrong, 1 page)
• Cut and Glue: six pieces a page in a 3 by 2 block, three straight cuts. Answers glued under problems (two pages), and problems sorted under right or wrong (18 pieces, 3 pages)
• 3 answer keys, a tracker, a class grid, a team note, a home page with blank boxes for the family to fill, a filled example (an invented student), a phrase and strategy bank (17 starters), a binder cover and 6 divider tabs with a spine label
• Start Here, a how-it-works page and a "What's next" back page

Built For The Child, Not The Office

Every student page has a big "My name" line, one short instruction with a picture (a pencil, a circle or scissors), big numbers, rounded boxes at least half an inch tall, and plenty of room. Everything for you (directions, answer keys, scoring) is on separate teacher pages. No clip art: the only pictures are the fraction bars and the page icons.

Three Levels, Marked By Dots

One dot: starting (one bottom number goes into the other, the steps are printed as boxes). Two dots: building (neither bottom number goes into the other, or the child finds the common denominator). Three dots: ready for more (no steps printed, a mix of signs, finding a wrong answer). The dots are the only level code, so children at one table are not comparing papers.

Every Item Is Computed

Every common denominator, every rewritten fraction, every answer, every story's numbers, every wrong claim and every row of the three answer keys is read from the same problems that draw the page, and each answer is checked a second time with an independent fraction calculation. There is no second, hand-typed key. Where an answer sits (the order of the items, right or wrong, the piece under a box) is placed by a seeded shuffle that rejects any order a child could guess. Every sum is less than 1 and every difference is greater than 0, so no problem needs a whole number or a mixed number. Each wrong claim on Right or Wrong has one slip (the tops and the bottoms were both added, or the tops were combined without changing them first), and the key says which.

Type In, Or Print

The name and date lines, every answer box, the tracker, class grid, team note and home page are type-in fields in any PDF reader; the printed fractions, bars and cut pieces are always printed. Every page also prints clean in black and white. This is a fillable PDF; it is not a Google Slides, Google Docs or PowerPoint file.

Who This Is For

Fifth grade teachers, special education and resource room teachers, interventionists, and families who want the same steps at home, with the tracking and home pages already made.

What This Is, And What It Is Not

An untimed practice set for adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators, with the record-keeping around it. It is not a timed fluency probe or a goal page, not a full fractions curriculum, and not a claim about any student's grade level or rate of progress. Bottom numbers stop at 12 and the common denominator at 30; there are no mixed numbers, no sums greater than 1, no decimals and no simplifying lesson (the answer key shows lowest terms for your own check).

Also From Bright Path Sped

Equivalent Fractions Worksheets (where this starts), Simplifying Fractions (Lowest Terms) Probes, Comparing Fractions with Unlike Denominators Probes and Fractions on a Number Line Worksheets.