Fractions - Making a quarter activity - Presentation

The concept of fractions is introduced to children through a series of engaging activities centered around making a quarter. Initially, students are prompted to consider what they already know about sharing and quarters. The lesson continues with practical examples, such as halving a cake, where children discuss how two equal pieces can be made. They then explore the notion of making a quarter by sharing equally among four people. The lesson uses everyday items like doughnuts and pizzas to visually demonstrate how to cut them into four equal parts, with each part representing one quarter. Students are encouraged to discuss and reason throughout the process, ensuring they understand that quarters are made by creating four equal sections.

Further activities involve hands-on tasks such as cutting paper circles into quarters and folding a square piece of paper to visually represent a quarter. Children are invited to explore different methods of creating quarters, including folding from corner to corner to create equal triangles. These practical exercises are complemented by reasoning tasks where students must prove that certain shapes represent one quarter of a square by drawing lines or placing the shapes onto the squares. The lesson also challenges children to identify shapes that are not easily divided into quarters and to draw shapes where finding quarters might be difficult. Through discussion and interactive activities, the lesson aims to solidify the children's understanding of quarters as a fundamental fraction concept.