To find three quarters of 20, draw one bar for 20, divide it into four equal parts and count three of those parts. Each part represents five, so the answer is 15.
Label the whole first
Draw a rectangle and write 20 stickers above it. Put three marks along the bar to create four equally sized sections. Write 5 inside each section because 20 divided by 4 equals 5. Shade three sections and add their labels. The denominator tells you how many equal parts form the whole. The numerator tells you how many of those parts to count.
Reverse the problem
Suppose three quarters of a box contains 18 counters. Draw the same four parts but put 18 above a bracket over only three parts. Divide 18 by 3 to get 6 per part. The whole contains 24. Check by multiplying 24 by three quarters to recover 18. Labelling the bracket makes it clear which number represents the whole and which represents part of it.
Try an unfamiliar fraction
Draw a bar for two fifths of 35. Ask someone to read your diagram without seeing the written problem. Can they identify the whole, the unit fraction and the final quantity? Your check value is 14.
