Author: Emma_Sbuttoni

Congratulations, Francisco! It’s always great to hear from former pupils, especially when it’s to tell me that their writing has been published.

Francisco’s writing ‘The Winning Goal’ appears in Welcome to Wonderland – South London, edited by Wendy Laws. I can’t say I’m surprised it’s about football!

Here it is:

Many children find dividing fractions challenging, but there’s actually an easy way for them to remember the method. Most children have heard of the fast food restaurant KFC, right? It stands for ‘Kentucky Fried Chicken’, but you can change it to ‘Keep Flip Change’ when dividing fractions.

Here’s an example:

2/3 ÷ 4/5

1. KEEP the first fraction the same.
2. FLIP the second fraction, so 4/5 becomes 5/4.
3. CHANGE the operation from division (÷) to multiplication (x).

The re-written sum should look like this: 2/3 x 5/4

4. Next, just multiply the fractions:

Multiply the numerator (the top number in the fraction) by the numerator and multiply the denominator (the bottom number in the fraction) by the denominator.

So 2 x 5 = 10 and 3 x 4 = 12 giving the answer 10/12

5. Finally, make sure that you simplify the fraction by dividing both numbers by the highest common factor:

10 and 12 can both be divided by 2

10 2 = 5

12 2 = 6

This makes 5/6 our final answer.

So, whenever you see the symbol for division between two fractions, just think of KFC (Keep Flip Change). Remember that this method can only be used to divide fractions; the method used to divide fractions; the method used to add and subtract fractions is completely different.