According to Florida Atlantic University, active learning is far superior to passive learning. Lessons that force the student to look, listen and read will help them remember only up to 30 percent of what they were taught. However, create a lesson plan that gives students the opportunity to do and play with the subject and they should remember up to 90 percent of the lesson. Incorporate this into your fraction modules by creating a game that involves the students or by using props and objects. Younger children learning what fractions represent would have great fun with sweets -- you could explain what one-fourth is before showing them how many sweets from the pack it represents.
If your class has access to computers, then you might consider putting on an IT lesson or online challenge. There are plenty of game resources on the Internet for you to choose from, so select a challenge or game that best suits the level of learning for your class. For example, a game like Tony Fraction's Pizza Shop, which gives the player fractional pizza orders to complete against the clock, would suit younger students. Hold a competition with the class and see who makes the most money on the game. Students at a higher level would be better suited to the denominator comparison game, which challenges the player to compare two random fractions and decide which is larger or if they are the same size.
A catchy melody and memorable lyrics should stay with the class all the way up to their exams. A fraction-based song is a great idea for teaching your pupils in an engaging way, for example, YouTube user ironmantim33's song on dividing fractions. The musician -- also a teacher -- mentions that he played the song for his students to help them learn. Lyrics for the song include: "Just flip what I'm dividing by, then it's just easy multiply -- the rule is fine, just invert and multiply." The song also outlines some of the common mistakes made when dividing fractions, like when you flip the first fraction instead of the second. Play the song to the class through YouTube or copy the song's chords and sing the lyrics with the class if you know how to play.
Other activities for learning fractions include group games -- for example getting the students to split themselves into fractional amounts or having the students decide what fraction of them is a certain age or certain height. Simple sheet work also makes for a good breather between activities. For example, hand out a recipe sheet with a long list of measured ingredients and ask the students to make double, triple or half the amount suggested. This, in particular, will help the students learn how to multiply and divide fractions.