Fractions - Recognise a half - Starter

In a Year 3 mathematics lesson focused on fractions, specifically recognising halves, students are presented with a variety of activities to solidify their understanding. The lesson begins with a 'Fluent in Four' revision task, where learners practise their arithmetic skills. They are required to calculate the difference between two sets of numbers, reinforcing their knowledge of subtraction. For example, they must work out the result of subtracting one number, consisting of one ten, eight hundreds, and seven ones, from another number with six hundreds, nine tens, and eight ones. Additionally, they solve a problem involving the subtraction of 567 from a time-related number, 20 to 12, expressed as 1190, to find the answer of 326.

The lesson progresses with an exercise where students are asked to find the totals of each row and column in a grid filled with numbers. This activity helps to develop their addition skills. The grid contains rows and columns with various combinations of numbers, such as 2, 5, 8 and 3, 5, 7, and students must calculate the sums accordingly. Following this, the concept of halves is introduced through a practical problem involving Tyler, who has 12 colouring pencils and brings half of them to school. Students must determine that Tyler brought 6 pencils. They are then prompted to fill in the blanks in sentences to reflect their understanding of what constitutes the whole and what one half of that whole is. Furthermore, they are asked to identify which pictures represent a half by ticking the correct ones. This multi-faceted approach ensures that students have a well-rounded grasp of recognising and working with halves.