Level: Year 2 and Year 3
Author: Anna Bock
Description:
This activity allows students to explore the concept of fractions in a context which may be familiar to them. It lets them discover halves, quarters and eighths. The story Lili’s Breakfast provides opportunities for students to consider the different ways the toast is cut and the names of those parts. Pose the questions listed to encourage thinking and discussion about fractions.
Materials: kinder squares, paper, scissors, story Lili’s breakfast (available here)
Objective: To represent different fractions.
Instructions:
- Read the story and ask students to recall some of the different ways that Lili’s mum cut the
- What might we call each of the ways she has cut the toast?
- Using kinder squares as the toast encourage thinking about how it could be cut into halves?
- Is there another way to show halves?
- Can you fold the kinder squares in different ways?
- Children draw all the ways they have folded their squares and describe them in a way that makes sense to them using words or numbers.
- Draw their attention to fraction equivalence, g. how a half was represented as two quarters, as well as four eighths, etc.
- If Lili had 3 pieces of toast for breakfast how many halves would she have? How many quarters? How might we record this? How might you prove that your thinking is correct?
- Is there any connection between the number of halves and the number of quarters?
- What if we cut the quarters into smaller pieces, what would the connection be?
Notes for parents: As the story is read pose the questions listed to encourage thinking about how Lili’s toast was cut into different sized parts and what these parts can be called. Cutting the kinder squares into halves, quarters or even eighths will support thinking of the size of these fractions and the relationships between them. If your child is unable to answer all questions listed focus on what they do know.
This activity covers the following Australian Curriculum – Mathematics Content:
Year 2: Recognise and interpret common uses of halves, quarters and eighths of shapes and collections (ACMNA033)
Year 3: Model and represent unit fractions including 1/2, 1/4, 1/3,1/5 and their multiples to a complete whole (ACMNA058)
For any questions or queries please contact: choosemaths@amsi.org.au
