This session explores how students can develop meaningful understandings of fractions through equal sharing story problems and open-ended mathematical problem solving. Participants will examine how traditional fraction instruction often emphasizes procedures and symbolic notation before students have opportunities to reason about relationships and quantities in intuitive ways. Through classroom videos, student work samples, and teacher reflection, educators will see how students—including students with disabilities—can build fraction understanding by drawing on their knowledge of whole numbers, sharing, partitioning, and visual representation. The session highlights a three-phase lesson structure of launch, solve, and discuss, demonstrating how Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can support accessibility, student agency, multimodal representation, and deep engagement with core mathematical ideas. Participants will explore how open tasks, collaborative discussion, and strategic teacher moves can support all learners in developing confidence, flexible thinking, and strong mathematical identities.