Representing Halves and Wholes

Written by Donna Boucher

Donna has been a teacher, math instructional coach, interventionist, and curriculum coordinator. A frequent speaker at state and national conferences, she shares her love for math with a worldwide audience through her website, Math Coach’s Corner. Donna is also the co-author of Guided Math Workshop.

Isn’t it great how hanging out in the staff lounge can generate some really awesome ideas?  This idea percolated in just the time it took my Smart Ones Salisbury Steak to heat up!  My Kinder teachers have been working on halves and wholes with their kiddos.  They’ve sorted cards showing equal and not equal parts.  They’ve folded paper and cut cookies, but they were looking for a way to assess the kids’ understanding.  We came up with this little activity.  The printables each have a different shape–circle, square, and rectangle.  These were shapes we thought the kids could connect to real-life objects.  A circle could be a cookie, a square a cheese sandwich, and a rectangle a candy bar, for instance.  The point is the kids will get to choose.  On the left side they will decorate the whole figure to look like their object (cookie, pizza, etc.) and complete the sentence frame, This is a whole cookie.  On the right side of the printable, they will divide the figure in half, decorate half of it, and complete the sentence frame, This is half a cookie.   Simple, but we thought it would not only assess their understanding, but also help them make real world connections.  There is also a printable with no figures for kids to come up with their own.  Click here to download your free copy!!

For additional fraction activities, check out Fraction Cards for Benchmarks of 0, 1/2, and 1.

8 Comments

  1. Nicole

    Thanks for sharing, Donna! I’m in Lubbock so we’re on the same skills as you guys 🙂 We’re starting fractions on Monday so this will be perfect for later in the week!

    Nicole
    Rowdy in Room 300

    Reply
  2. Charlotte Braddock

    Thank you Donna. I love love your blog.

    Charlotte

    Blog:
    Charlotte’s Clips and Kindergarten Kids

    Reply
    • Donna Boucher

      Thanks so much, Charlotte! I’m a big fan of your clipart!

      Reply
  3. Brittaney Chellsen

    Thank you for offering this, it’s a great idea and so simple!

    Reply
    • Donna Boucher

      My pleasure, Brittaney! 🙂

      Reply
  4. Ariel

    Hello! I tried to download this, but it says I need access.

    Reply
    • Donna Boucher

      I’m sorry! That is an old post and the link needs to be updated. Thank you for bringing it to my attention!

      Reply

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