Operations Mastery
📋 What it is
Choosing the right operation: add/subtract need common denominators; multiply goes straight across; divide flips the second fraction.
🗣️ Coach says
Once you know all four operations, the skill is picking the right one and remembering its rule. Add/subtract? Match the bottoms first. Multiply? Straight across. Divide? Keep-change-flip. Say the rule before you compute.
🧠 Memory hook
Add/sub → match bottoms. Multiply → straight across. Divide → keep, change, flip.
😂 Giggle
What did the fraction say after it was simplified?
"Thanks, I feel so much more reduced!"
😲 Whoa!
Dividing by a fraction can give a BIGGER answer — 6 ÷ 1/2 = 12, because you’re asking “how many halves fit in 6?”
✅ Quick check: What is 1/2 ÷ 1/4, and what question is that really asking?
Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.
2 — “how many quarters fit in a half?” Keep 1/2, change ÷ to ×, flip 1/4 to 4/1: 1/2 × 4 = 2.
Dividing by a fraction counts how many of it fit, via keep-change-flip.
🪄 Trick question: For 3/4 ÷ 2/5, do you need a common denominator first?
Careful — think it through, then reveal.
No — division uses keep-change-flip (3/4 × 5/2), no common denominator needed.
Only addition and subtraction require matching denominators.
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Solve one of each: 2/5 + 1/5, 3/4 − 1/2, 2/3 × 3/4, 1/2 ÷ 1/6. Say the rule out loud before each.