Grade 6 Lesson 2.

2: Dividing Fractions (Day 1)

Goal: Today's lesson is dividing by a fraction.
Lesson Objective: In the Activity, students used a visual model to divide by a fraction. In the
Lesson, students will use a formal rule to divide by a fraction.
Vocabulary: reciprocals
Materials for Motivate in Teaching Edition: 3 quarters
Materials for Lesson Notes in Teaching Edition: yardstick
Materials for Lesson in Pupil Edition: none
Pacing: Day 1 45 minutes

CC State
Standards

CC Mathematical
Practice Focus

6.NS.1

MP6

1. INTRODUCTION (5 minutes)

Other Resources

Warm Up
Have students answer Start Thinking! and/or Warm Up questions. Review the answers as a class.
Review previously assigned homework, if necessary.

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Warm Up
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Motivate from Lauries Notes in Teaching Edition

1
3 20
i
15.

4 20
4 1
Talk
Talk about how many nickels are in 3 quarters and show this division problem with fractions
about how you can use the invert and multiply rule from yesterday to solve this problem. Point out that although most of the
problems from yesterday involved a whole number divided by a fraction, the problems you will be working on today will
involve division with different combinations of whole numbers and fractions.
The Meaning of a Word: Invert
Introduce the words invert and reciprocal as shown in the text.

2. EXAMPLE 1 (5 minutes)

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Writing Reciprocals
3 9
, ,
This example shows students how to write the reciprocal of fractions, such as 5 5 and 2.

Work through the examples as shown.

Be sure to talk about how to write the reciprocal of a whole number.

Remind students that reciprocals are not equal to each other, but their product should be 1.

Have students work in pairs to answer On Your Own Questions 1 4.

Review the answers together, with students presenting their work to the class.

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3. Key Idea (5 minutes)

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Dividing Fractions

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Lauries Lesson Notes

This Key Idea summarizes the rule for dividing fractions in words, numbers, and algebra.

Write the rule in words, numbers, and algebra.

Note that the definition says to divide a number by a fraction,. Emphasize that you should only take the
reciprocal of the number after the division sign.

4. EXAMPLE 2 (10 minutes)

Dividing a Fraction by a Fraction
1
2
.
6
3
This example illustrates how to divide fraction, such as

2
1
1
2
.
,
Estimate the quotient. This question is asking how many 3 are in 6 Because 6 is much less than 3 there
arent many! The answer must be very small, close to 0.
Work through the example.
Check the reasonableness of the answer.
Have students work in pairs to answer On Your Own Questions 5 8. Before they begin, have students decide if
the quotient is less than 1 or greater than 1.
Review the answers together, with students presenting their work to the class.

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5. EXAMPLE 3 (10 minutes)

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Dividing a Whole Number by a Fraction

This example illustrates two methods for dividing a whole number by a fraction in order to solve real-life application
3
problems, such as finding how many 4 -foot pieces of wood can be cut from a piece of wood that is 3 feet long.

Write the problem and sketch the model.

Estimate the quotient. Discuss the relative size of the answer before beginning to solve the problem.
Work through each method.
Use a yardstick to model this problem. Mark every 9 inches. Use a rectangular model as shown if a yard stick is
not available.
Check the reasonableness of the answer.
Have students use Think-Pair-Share to answer On Your Own Question 9. Encourage students to estimate and
check that their answer is reasonable.
Review the answers together, with students presenting their work to the class.

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Focus on Mathematical Practice 6

3
Units are an important aspect of the problem. The question is asking about a unit size of 4 and how many of them are in 3
3

4 1 ,

whole. Because the unit is less than 1

3 divided by something less than 1 must be greater than 3.
Mathematically proficient students continually consider the units involved in a problem.

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6. ASSESS (10 minutes)

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Closure (as time allows)

Have students work independently on Extra Examples 1 3 from the Teaching Edition. This will summarize what they have

done so far: learned what a reciprocal is, divided two fractions, and divided a whole number by a fraction.

Homework Assignment

1 10 odds, 23 27 odds

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Taking Math Deeper

Mini-Assessment
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Lesson Plan

Grade 6 Lesson 2.2: Dividing Fractions (Day 2)

Goal: Today's lesson is dividing by a fraction.
Lesson Objective: In the Activity, students used a visual model to divide by a fraction. In the
Lesson, students will use a formal rule to divide by a fraction.
Vocabulary: reciprocals
Materials for Closure in Teaching Edition: 3 quarters
Materials for Lesson in Pupil Edition: none
Pacing: Day 2 45 minutes

CC State
Standards

CC Mathematical
Practice Focus

6.NS.1

MP6

1. INTRODUCTION (5 minutes)

Other Resources

Warm Up
Have students answer Start Thinking! and/or Warm Up questions. Review the answers as a class.
Review previously assigned homework, if necessary.

2. EXAMPLE 4 (15 minutes)

Other Resources

Dividing a Fraction by a Whole Number

4
2.
This example shows students how to divide a fraction by a whole number, such as 5

Discuss what kinds of quotients you will get when you divide a fraction by a whole number.

Ask students to estimate the product and explain how they arrived at their estimate.

Work through the example as shown.

Discuss the reasonableness of the answer.

Have students work in pairs to answer On Your Own Questions 10 13. Encourage them to write an estimate first,
and then after completing the problem, they should discuss the reasonableness of their answers.

Review the answers together, with students presenting their work to the class.

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3. EXAMPLE 5 (15 minutes)

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Using Order of Operations

This example illustrates how to use order of operations to simplify an expression with fractions and more than one
3
5

5.
8
6
operation, such as

Write the problem.

Before starting to solve the problem, discuss what operations are involved, what operation should be performed
first, and how you divide by 5 when the problem has fractions.
Remind students that in order to do the last step of adding, you must rewrite the fractions with common
denominators first. Ask students what could be used as a common denominator. The Study Tip shows how the
problem can be done with the LCD.
Have students work in pairs to answer On Your Own Questions 14 16.
Review the answers together, with students presenting their work to the class.

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Extra Example
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4. ASSESS (10 minutes)

Closure (as time allows)

Hold up 3 quarters and ask students how many dimes are in 3 quarters. This will show that students understand dividing a

fraction by a whole number.

Homework Assignment

19-22, 30, 36, 37, 44 50 even, 51, 54, 55

Suggestions for leveling

Taking Math Deeper

Mini-Assessment
Extra Practice (A and B)
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Answer Presentation

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BASIC: Homework Assignment: 19 22, 30, 43 51 odd

ADVANCED: Homework Assignment: 21, 22, 30, 36 50 even, 51, 54, 56, 57

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