Adding Fractions (Unlike Denominators)
Add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators (including mixed numbers) by replacing given fractions with equivalent fractions to produce a common denominator
Lesson
Set out your lesson
Add and subtract unlike-denominator fractions, including mixed numbers, by making equal-sized parts.
Before teaching
Use this short check, then start teaching.
Ask the learner to rename 2/3 in twelfths and subtract like-denominator fractions. If either is uncertain, return to mt_b7T-CjOYUR and mt_-V7EnqU7gG. Mixed-number conversion may need a short replay of mt_o_p-3tCxiM. Canonical ages are 10–11, not a readiness guarantee. These activity checks are inferred; source availability is not mastery.
Check learner readiness directly; prerequisite availability is not attainment.
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Add and subtract unlike-denominator fractions, including mixed numbers, by making equal-sized parts.
Add and subtract unlike-denominator fractions, including mixed numbers, by making equal-sized parts.
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Learning resources
Extra practice links — they do not replace Gakuva’s teaching approach.
Illustrative Mathematics · Practice link — not the full lesson
Mixed Numbers with Unlike Denominators
Before you open · source notes
Mixed numbers with unlike denominators support adding fractions. Not every multiplication of fractions.
Free, no sign-in. A teacher solution is on the same page, so use the student view with your child.
Before you openAsk the learner to add two mixed numbers with different denominators and show the common-denominator step.
Opening this link does not save learning or assess mastery.
Source, access and review notes
Public Illustrative Mathematics task page. The .html address responds HTTP 308 to this URL. An anonymous GET of this URL on 2026-11-12 returned HTTP 200 with no login or payment prompt. Where a teacher solution is present, it is on the same page as the student task; this check did not find a separate locked student view. An adult can use the student view section and should not read a solution aloud. Advertising was not observed in the fetched HTML text; that is not a browser, device, or ad-free guarantee. This is a paper or discussion task, not an automatically marked interactive game. Opening the link does not save practice or assess mastery. Diagrams on the page use missing or filename-only alt text, so they are not an accessible image equivalent. Accessibility still depends on an adult describing the picture.
Illustrative Mathematics. “Mixed Numbers with Unlike Denominators.” Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. External task; Gakuva does not copy, host, embed, or redistribute it.
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — link only
Check understanding
- Compute 2/3 + 5/4 by converting to twelfths: 8/12 + 15/12 = 23/12
- Subtract 1 3/5 from 3 1/4 using a common denominator
- Explain the strategy of finding a common denominator and verify using a visual model
“If a recipe uses 2/3 of a cup of one ingredient and 3/4 of another, can your child add those fractions together — even though the denominators are different?”
Curriculum record
- Type
- Procedural
- Subject
- Mathematics
- Domain
- Fractions
- Age range
- Ages 10–13
Standards