Resources needed:

  • Photo of a square cracker (top view) and a pizza (top view)
  • Counters or bricks

 

 

  1. Show the children the picture of the pizza and explain you are going to share it with a friend. What is important to remember (to share it equally) and how can this be done (let them make suggestions – focus on the division equally into two portions). Show half by drawing an accurate line down the middle of the pizza. Rotate to show you could have halved it in other ways.
  2. Write the symbol for half on the board. Ask four children to come out to stand with you and ask someone else in the class to explain how they would find out half of this number of children. What process should they use? What is a half? Discuss how the children should be put into two equal groups (point to the ‘2’ in the symbol) and that half is the number of children in one of the equal groups (point to the ‘1’ in the symbol). Repeat this process with different (but even) numbers of children.
  3. Now ask the children orally to tell you half of six, half of 8 and half of 10 (allow them to use their fingers if they need to).
  4. Now show the children the picture of the square cracker and explain that you need to share it fairly between yourself and three friends. Ask them to suggest how you could do this and then show the cracker quartered by drawing a line to half it and then a second line to half each of the halves, thus quartering.
  5. Repeat the earlier activity using children, this time to show quarters. Explain this in different ways – it can be done by putting children into four equal groups (perhaps by starting with the children in a group in the middle of the room and asking them to move to the four corners) or it could also be done by finding half and then halving that number. Remember to write the symbol for a quarter and point to the four (the number of groups) and the one (the number of children in one of those groups).
  6. Give the children some cubes or counters and ask them to find a quarter of 8, 12 and 16.

 

Further Activities:

Allow plenty of practise in halving and quartering numbers – use solid equipment and remind children of the number of groups each time.

Use paper shapes to show the different ways of halving or quartering by folding them differently. Let the children cut along the fold lines to make two or four pieces, and then reassemble them to show the whole shape again.

Curriculum Areas covered:

Pupils should be taught to:

  • recognise, find and name a half as one of two equal parts of an object, shape or quantity

recognise, find and name a quarter as one of four equal parts of an object, shape or quantity.