Fractions - Making a quarter activity - Planning

Year 1 students delve into the concept of fractions, focusing on making a quarter during their summer term. The National Curriculum objectives align with solving simple multiplication problems using tangible objects. The key vocabulary for this unit includes terms such as 'quarter', 'sharing', 'share equally', 'equal pieces', 'halve', 'halving', and 'fair'. These terms are essential for understanding the process of dividing objects into equal parts. The lesson incorporates the use of paper circles and squares, pencil crayons, and a presentation to aid learning. Students begin by revisiting their previous knowledge about sharing and quarters, where they discuss and clarify any misconceptions they might have. Through paired discussions, they explore how to evenly divide a pizza into four equal pieces and relate the concept of quartering to halving and then halving once more. The practical activities involve cutting paper circles into quarters and folding square papers to visually represent and colour in one quarter, while addressing the challenge of whether the chosen section for colouring matters.

The lesson continues with reasoning exercises where students must draw lines on given shapes to demonstrate their understanding of quarters. They also engage in discussions about which shapes are more challenging to quarter, such as irregular shapes. Throughout the lesson, key questions prompt students to reflect on the methods of sharing equally and the terminology associated with dividing objects into halves and quarters. To conclude, the lesson includes a 'Give me five' activity to consolidate learning outcomes, where students reflect on what they have learned, the skills they have used, difficulties encountered, aids that helped them, and important points to remember. The lesson plan outlines expectations for different levels of understanding, from 'Working towards' where students begin to apply the vocabulary and identify shapes that are difficult to quarter, to 'Working at expected' where they can suggest such shapes and reason about their complexity, and finally 'Working at Greater depth' where they can confidently articulate their understanding of quartering, relate it to halving, and offer a variety of suggestions for shapes that are not easy to quarter.