Fractions on a Number Line Song

Join Benny in his school where he is investigating fractions on number lines. He gets some help from his friend Thania, and then shows his stuffed animal how to write 1/3 on the number line. While doing his homework later in the evening, Benny gets stuck on a problem about representing fractions greater than one, so he texts Thania (his friend, and apparently, tutor-on-demand), to get some help.

Fractions on a Number Line Lyrics:

I asked my friend if she could help me find
where to write one-half on the number line.
She said, “First draw a line with two arrows.”
Then she sang a song; here’s how it goes:

Zero to one is the whole that we split apart.
The denominator tells us into how many parts.
Make a line that starts from zero to the first mark,
and one-half is what you’ll find when you get that far.

My stuffed animal can’t talk, but I thought I heard,
“Hey, Ben, on the number line, where’s one-third?”
I said, “First, draw a line with two arrows.
And hey! I know a cool tune; here’s how it goes.”

Zero to one is the whole that we split apart.
The denominator tells us into how many parts.
Make a line that starts from zero to the first mark,
and one-third is what you’ll find when you get that far.

Then I texted my friend, “What’s to be done
when the numerator isn’t one?”
She said, “Let’s try to find five over nine
on the number line in - like - no time.
Simply partition nine parts from zero to one.
Starting from zero, count five, and at five-ninths we arrive.”

Zero to one is the whole that we split apart.
The denominator tells us into how many parts.
Make a line that starts from zero to the fifth mark,
and five-ninths is what you’ll find when you get that far.

Let’s use the number line to describe this pie.
First, count the total pieces... there are five.
Five’s the denominator (all the parts), so five goes underneath the fraction bar.
This number line goes from zero to two,
but the fraction’s less than one, so here’s what to do:
Make five equal spaces from zero to one.
Now the final step before we’re done:
The numerator is the one piece that’s mine.
After the first space I’ll write one-fifth under the line.
Just remember this one tip in your minds:
Always count the spaces - never the lines.

Zero to one is the whole that we split apart.
The denominator tells us into how many parts.
Make a line that starts from zero to the first mark,
and one-fifth is what you’ll find when you get that far.

Learn More

This song targets TEKS and Common Core learning standards primarily from 3rd Grade.  Look into the relevant standards, or dig deeper into the concept of fractions or number lines.

For more information on planning a complete, standards-aligned fractions on a number line lesson, we advise checking out Instructure's recommendations for common core standard 3.NF.2.  These pages help break down standard language, lay out the grade-appropriate level of rigor for the concept, and offer a variety of suggestions for activities (lesson seeds) that help students achieve their learning targets.

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