3rd Grade Identifying Fractions on Number Lines Worksheet: Tick the Dot

A number line can show a fraction as well as a whole number. This 3rd grade identifying fractions on number lines worksheet has five number lines, numbered 1 to 5, and each one runs from 0 to 1. A red dot sits on one mark of every line. Under each line, there are four small boxes with a fraction beside each one. Your child counts the equal spaces between 0 and 1 to find the bottom number, then counts the jumps from 0 to the dot to find the top number. They tick the box with that fraction. The lines are cut into ninths, fifths, sevenths, eighths and halves, so no two of them look the same. A girl in a yellow cape flies beside the lines. Page two shows each correct box with a red tick.

Five answers to check

The answers are 7/9, 4/5, 3/7, 2/8 and 1/2. In item 1, the dot sits on the seventh of nine spaces, while in item 5 it sits right in the middle of the line. All the ticks in the key are right.

The main trap is counting the marks instead of the spaces. A line cut into fifths has six marks, because 0 and 1 get a mark too. So a child who counts marks will write sixths by mistake. Item 4 is also worth a talk, since 2/8 and 1/4 name the same point on the line, even though only 2/8 is offered. Reading fractions on a number line is a key third grade skill.

At the table: spaces, not marks

Teach your child to hop with a pencil tip from one mark to the next and to say "one, two, three" for each hop. The number of hops from 0 to 1 is the bottom number. Next, they hop again from 0 to the dot, and that count is the top number.

The page has one small slip. Item 5 offers 1/2, 2/1, 2/2 and a bare "2" without a fraction bar. The choices 2/1 and 2 are a clever trap, because both mean two wholes, which lie far past the end of the line. Talk about why they cannot be right.

After the page: a ribbon line

Lay a ribbon on the floor and mark 0 at one end and 1 at the other. Then fold it into four equal parts and put a coin on one fold. Ask your child which fraction the coin shows. Next, let your child place the coin and ask you. Finally, check the five answers with the answer key on page two.