What’s on the Adding Unlike Fractions poster
The rule, 4 worked examples, and the mistake everyone makes.
- Find a common denominator, rewrite both fractions, then add only the numerators.
- 1/2 + 1/3 = 3/6 + 2/6 = 5/6
- 1/2 + 1/3 = 5/6
- 2/5 + 1/4 = 13/20
- 1/6 + 1/3 = 1/2
- 3/4 + 5/6 = 19/12 = 1 7/12
- Common mistake: 1/2 + 1/3 = 2/5 → 1/2 + 1/3 = 5/6
The multiples of the larger denominator are the fastest place to hunt for a common one.
Questions about the Adding Unlike Fractions poster
- What’s on the Adding Unlike Fractions poster?
- The rule, 4 worked examples, and the mistake everyone makes. Find a common denominator, rewrite both fractions, then add only the numerators.; 1/2 + 1/3 = 3/6 + 2/6 = 5/6; 1/2 + 1/3 = 5/6; 2/5 + 1/4 = 13/20; 1/6 + 1/3 = 1/2; 3/4 + 5/6 = 19/12 = 1 7/12; Common mistake: 1/2 + 1/3 = 2/5 → 1/2 + 1/3 = 5/6. The multiples of the larger denominator are the fastest place to hunt for a common one.
- Who is the Adding Unlike Fractions poster for?
- Adding Unlike Fractions is filed under 5th Grade (ages 10–11), so it matches what that year asks a child to remember. It is equally useful to an older student revisiting math, and to the parent or teacher answering the question at the kitchen table.
- When should you use the Adding Unlike Fractions poster?
- Point at the rule they need instead of reteaching the whole topic. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Adding Unlike Fractions belongs on the wall where that math work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with Adding Unlike Fractions?
- Comparing Fractions, Dividing Fractions and Multiplying Fractions sit alongside Adding Unlike Fractions in the 5th Grade set. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Comparing FractionsDividing FractionsMultiplying Fractions
- Is the Adding Unlike Fractions poster free to download and print?
- Yes. Adding Unlike Fractions downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the 5th Grade set. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the Adding Unlike Fractions poster print at?
- Adding Unlike Fractions is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Adding Unlike Fractions loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside Adding Unlike Fractions on the same wall.
Browse every 5th Grade poster, or start from the full catalogue.