Must-do 5th Grade Halloween Fraction Word Problem!

Happy Halloween, teachers! Here's a fraction word problem for you to do with your students this week. I included a picture of their work below. You'll need orange and black construction paper. Cut the paper into long strips or fraction bars. Each student needs 7 strips. Each strip represents 1 whole. Provide white pencils. The kids love to use white pencil on the construction paper. Gives it an extra spooky Halloween effect!
 

Angelica has 7 Halloween cookies. She wants to share them with 4 of her friends and wants to eat some herself. How much cookie will each person get?

First, read and reread the problem together. Have students act it out or visualize it (play movies in their heads) to understand the problem. Second, tell your students to pay attention to how many actual people are sharing the cookies. Is it 4 friends or 5 people in all? In this problem situation, it is 5 people because Angelica wants to eat some herself.

Then, divide each strip into fifths. Each person will get 1/5, so have the students shade in 1/5 of each whole using the white pencil. Count the fifths together...1/5, 2/5, 3/5, 4/5, 5/5, 6/5, 7/5! 

Each person will get 7/5 cookies. Discuss/remind converting 7/5 (improper fraction) to a mixed number. The result is each person will get 1 2/5 (one and two-fifths) cookie.  

Here's another problem for your Halloween week! 

The recipe for Halloween muffins 

calls for ¾ c. of sugar. 

How much sugar is needed to double the recipe?