Comparing Fractions with Unlike Denominators Worksheets 4th Grade

About this resource

Comparing fractions with unlike denominators worksheets for 4th grade that start from a picture: two bars drawn the same length, one cut into thirds and one into fourths, with some parts shaded. Which has more? Then the numbers come in: make the bottom numbers the same, check each fraction against one half, put three fractions in order, solve a short word problem, 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)

• 64 different items, every one computed in code, bottom numbers from 2 to 12, no item used twice on the student pages
• Look: two examples worked out step by step on drawn bars, one with a common bottom number and one using one half as a benchmark (1 page)
• Compare the Bars: two bars drawn for every pair; write less than, more than or equal. Set A has bottom numbers that go into each other, Set B does not (12 items, 2 pages)
• Same Bottom Number: rewrite both fractions with the same bottom number, then compare. Set A prints the bottom number, Set B leaves it for the child to find (8 items, 2 pages)
• Compare to One Half: a bar with a half line marked, then pairs where one fraction is under one half and one is over it (10 items, 2 pages)
• Put in Order: three fractions, smallest first with small bars shown, then biggest first with nothing printed (8 items, 2 pages)
• Word Problems: two invented children, two fractions of the same thing, one question, with a "Draw it" space beside each (8 problems, 2 pages)
• Cut and Glue: six pieces a page in a 3 by 2 block, three straight cuts. Sort fractions by one half, sort bars by one half (less than, the same as, more than) and sort true or false statements (18 pieces, 3 pages)
• 3 answer keys, a tracker, a class grid, a team note, a home page with blank bars for the family to draw on, 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 or scissors), big drawn bars, 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 themselves.

Three Levels, Marked By Dots

One dot: starting (bars drawn for every pair, the half line marked). Two dots: building (bars, but bottom numbers that do not go into each other; ordering with bars shown). Three dots: ready for more (no picture, no common bottom number given). The dots are the only level code, so children at one table are not comparing papers.

Every Item Is Computed

Every sign, every common bottom number, every order and every row of the three answer keys is read from the same fractions that draw the page. There is no second, hand-typed key. Where an answer sits (the sign, the name in a word problem, the piece under a mat) is placed by a seeded shuffle that rejects any order a child could guess. A page also cannot be solved by always picking the bigger bottom number or the bigger top number, because the build fails if that rule is right every time on a page.

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 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

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

What This Is, And What It Is Not

An untimed practice set for comparing fractions that have different bottom numbers, 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; there are no mixed numbers, no improper fractions and no decimals.

Also From Bright Path Sped

Equivalent Fractions Worksheets (where this starts), Fractions on a Number Line Worksheets, and the data side: Comparing Fractions with Unlike Denominators Progress Monitoring Probes and Ordering Fractions Progress Monitoring Probes.