How to Add and Subtract Mixed Numbers
Add or subtract the fractions, then the wholes. Trade when you need to.
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How to do it
- Add or subtract the fractions.
- Add or subtract the whole numbers.
- Trade a whole for pieces, or pieces for a whole, when needed.
Teaching tip
Trading works like regrouping in subtraction with whole numbers. Point out the connection. This sheet is aligned with Common Core 4.NF.B.3.
About this chart
Worked examples of 1 3/4 + 2 2/4 with trading 4/4 for a whole, and 3 1/4 − 1 3/4 with trading a whole for 4/4.
What kids practice
When fractions have the same bottom number, the pieces are the same size, so you add or subtract just the top numbers: 3/8 + 2/8 = 5/8. Fourth graders also break fractions apart into sums, change between mixed numbers like 2 3/4 and improper fractions like 11/4, and add and subtract mixed numbers.
Watch for
- Adding the bottom numbers too, like 3/8 + 2/8 = 5/16.
- Forgetting to trade when the fraction part is more than 1, like writing 3 5/4.
- Subtracting the smaller top number from the bigger one when regrouping is needed in mixed numbers.
- Mixing up the whole number and the remainder when changing an improper fraction to a mixed number.
It's free to print, as many copies as you need. See the full adding and subtracting fractions guide for 4th grade.
More sheets in this set
- See it all
1. How to Break Apart a Fraction5/8 broken into single eighths and into groups two different ways, and the mixed number 2 1/8 written as 8/8 + 8/8 + 1/8. 
2. Break Apart a FractionFractions to write as a sum two different ways, like 5/8 = 2/8 + 3/8. More adds mixed numbers, like 1 3/8 = 8/8 + 3/8. Many answers are right.- See it all
3. How to Add and Subtract FractionsWorked examples with strips: 3/8 + 2/8, 7/10 − 4/10, and 1 − 3/8 by writing 1 as 8/8, with why the bottom number never changes. 
4. Add FractionsAdding fractions with the same bottom number on graph paper. Fewer shows both parts on the strip, Standard has a strip to shade, and More adds three fractions, sums more than 1, and hundredths.
5. Subtract FractionsSubtracting fractions with the same bottom number on graph paper. Fewer shows the crossed-out parts, Standard has a strip to cross out, and More adds 1 minus a fraction, improper fractions and hundredths.- See it all
6. How to Change Mixed Numbers and Improper FractionsStep-by-step worked examples changing 2 3/4 to 11/4 and 14/5 to 2 4/5, with circle pictures to check. 
7. Mixed Numbers and Improper FractionsChanging mixed numbers like 2 3/4 to improper fractions like 11/4, and back. Fewer has circle pictures, and More uses bigger whole numbers.
9. Add and Subtract Mixed NumbersAdding and subtracting mixed numbers with the same bottom number on graph paper, with rows to work in. Fewer and Standard have no regrouping, and More adds regrouping.
10. Fraction Word ProblemsStories about pizza, flour, walking, ribbon, paint, juice and reading with fractions that have the same bottom number. More adds mixed numbers.