Bean Counters

Bean Counters is a Grade 3 fraction activity that uses a collection of beans to represent fractions of a group. The teacher calls out a fraction and students build a set that shows that relationship, such as making three of five beans one color to represent 3/5. The concrete objects keep numerator and denominator connected to an actual whole rather than only to symbols on a page.

Use it with a small group or the whole class when students are beginning to interpret fractions of sets. Ask students to explain what counts as the whole, what the numerator describes, and whether a different arrangement could represent the same fraction. Generate teacher-ready lesson support for Bean Counters with a free Find a Math Game account. Free accounts include 3 lifetime lesson generations and no credit card.