Word Problems with Fractions

Part of the common core standards asks our children to contextualize numbers.  When faced with a problem like this, do your students know if it's a multiplication or division problem?

Model drawing will help them visualize what to do with the numbers!  

Fractions are tricky!  Adding and subtracting is conceptually easy, but the procedure is tough.  Multiplication and division are the opposite!  It's easy to teach kids to invert and multiply, but why does that work?  If children understand WHY, they'll be much more successful in the short and the long run!