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Making equal groups

Joann and Ed are playing games at the park. Who will win?

Learning intention

Students will learn how to:

share up to 10 objects into 2 equal groups.

Success criteria

I will know I have been successful if I can:

  • share objects into 2 equal groups
  • check that groups are equal by counting.

Prerequisites

  • Counting objects up to 10
  • Understand the meaning of ‘fair’

Languages

Reinforce the use of language related to fractions and equality: share equally, half, equal groups, same

Misconceptions

  • You can only halve objects, not groups of objects.

Before the video

  • Discuss: When do you share? Do you share with your friends? What does it mean to share? How do you know when you have shared fairly?
  • Take an apple, cut it in half and give half to each child. ‘How have I shared this apple? How much apple has each person got?’ Repeat with 2 apples. ‘When we share something equally between 2 people, they will each have half.’ ‘Half of 1 apple is half an apple, half of 2 apples is 1 apple.’

During the video

First viewing:

Watch the video without stopping or pausing. Then, ask the children to explain what happened in the video. Begin to draw out key vocabulary or possible misconceptions.

Second viewing:

Pause point Key learning Action/discussion
1:32 Arranging the objects in a line makes it easy to see if they have been shared fairly Why is it helpful to lay the rings in lines?
2:28 To share fairly each person must have the same number of objects Invite a student to come to the board to make a fair share of 4, 6 or 8 rings. Check by first counting all of the rings, then counting the rings in each line.
4:07 You can create equal shares by each taking an object at the same time until all of the objects have gone Provide each pair with a pile of 8 counters. Ask them to create equal shares by each taking 1 counter at the same time. Then count and check.

After the video

Sharing objects:

  • Group students in pairs and provide them with Mathletics number cards (even numbers to 10), 10 physical objects such as counters and the printable for sharing.
  • Students take turns to turn over a number card and place it at the top of the printable.
  • Students count out that number of objects.
  • Students work together to share the objects into two equal groups and say the sentence aloud, eg 10 shared equally between 2 is 5.

Download resource

Mathletics worksheet:

Download worksheet

Can you make fair shares?

  • Give each pair of students 10 counters. Ask them to explore sharing the numbers 1–10 into 2 equal groups. Which numbers can be shared equally? Record.
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