Making fractions in Google Slides is an easy way to save yourself TONS of time this year!

Once you’ve created the templates you need with tables, you can save them to reuse again and again.

Use Tables for Fractions in Google Slides

I know many people like to use textboxes, but tables really do create the perfect setup for fractions in Google Slides.

And they save so much time:

Now I must confess, it took me a long time to figure this next part out.

I would make these templates for my fractions over the years and use them…but I NEVER saved them!! Each year I would have to go searching through my old assignments or just create them all over again.

Ugh.

Ok. Back to fractions.

With just a bit of setup now, you will be able to save yourself MANY precious minutes in the future.

(if you are in a super rush, I do have all kinds of math templates already designed for you here: Digital Math Templates)

Ok, ready to begin?

Create the Table

Go to Insert, then choose Table.

Create a table with one column and two rows:

Select your table and make it as narrow as possible:

It will also be helpful to adjust the padding of your table.

This is a total game changer and will give you more control over the design of your math visuals!

Format the Table

With your table still selected, choose a font you would like for your fraction:

Now center all the text in your table:

Enter your numerator and denominator:

Be sure the table is selected. Go to the borders color menu and choose Transparent:

You could leave the middle border line as the fraction line…but I find that it’s often too long, so I like to try these next steps to make it a bit shorter.

So now your table should like this:

To create the middle line, go to the Line dropdown menu and choose Line:

Choose a color for this line:

You can resize your line so it balances the numerator and denominator nicely…rather than being too long as the middle table border would be.

Drag the line until it is centered. The Google Slides red guidelines will help you do this easily:

Now make a second fraction template with a two-digit numerator and denominator.

You may need to make this middle line a bit longer (which is why we are making a second fraction template):

Using Your Fraction Templates

Now you are ready to use your fraction templates!

Starting in the white space outside of your fraction, click and drag over the fraction to select it (this will select the line and table you created, all at once):

Once the fraction is selected, it can be copied and pasted into other slides to create assignments.

All you will need to do is type over the old numbers in your template. So easy!

Storing Fraction Templates

Learn from my mistakes.

Be sure to save your templates in a special slide so you can find them easily to use again and again!

You can also paste more fractions into your template slide if you want to set up a layout for a whole assignment page:

You can also create the benchmark fractions you know you’ll use again in the future…this will save you so much time!

Now let’s set up a special place to store those templates you just created!

This will save time as you create new printables for your students in the future.

I like to use Google Keep to store my templates. If you are new to Google Keep, I have a whole page on the site designated to all the ways to use Keep in teaching, as well as an interactive design experience if you’d like to set up a Google Keep system today as well!

I set up a special note to keep the templates I like to reuse:

Then I can just click on the link and grab my fraction templates to paste right into a new Google Slide!

Such a great timesaver!

If you enjoyed this tutorial, please be sure to check out more ways to use tables to save time in math: How to Create Number Lines in Google Slides

More Math Ideas

When I’m not sharing technology tutorials, I LOVE to share math ideas, freebies, and resources.

Be sure to check out my latest post…How to Use Color Tiles in Math: 20 Easy Photo Ideas