Teaching article
Two pieces are not automatically two halves
Check equality of the parts before naming them halves.
Cut or draw one whole in two different ways, including an unequal partition. The comparison directs attention to equality of the parts, not just the fact that there are two of them.
Identify the whole rectangle. Divide it into two equal parts. Compare a deliberately unequal split.
Compare each part with the same whole
Two equal parts of one rectangle are halves; two pieces of different sizes are not both halves of that whole.
Compare both the number of parts and their equality. Two unequal pieces do not each represent one half of the same whole.
The number of pieces alone does not establish the fraction.
What makes the parts equal? Fold pre-marked paper with adult support.
Resources
- Maths Puzzle Generator — Choose arithmetic or missing-number questions only when they match the number relationship being explored.
Further reading
Read next
- Quarters require four equal shares of the whole
- The last count tells us how many altogether
- Tens and ones: explain what the digits stand for
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