Slice It Up! (Part One)

Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling

• Use the SMART Board lesson or cutouts of the teacher modeling images to model the process of partitioning shapes into halves, fourths, or eighths.
• As you model each form of partition, emphasize the number of pieces and the specific name for each piece (half, fourth, or eighth).
• Introduce the form of the fraction by showing students that the total number of pieces in a whole shape represents the bottom part (denominator) of a fraction.
• Emphasize that the denominator is “down” or on the bottom part of a written fraction.

Guided Practice

• Distribute cutouts of four circles, or have the students cut the circles out.
• Guide the students through the process of folding the circles to create differing fractions, including one whole, two halves, four fourths, and eight eighths.
• Have students draw lines along folds and label the backs of the fractions. For example, have students label the circle with two parts “halves” on the back.

Independent working time

• Distribute cutouts of four squares, or have the students cut the squares out.
• Display the following words on the board, and read them aloud: halves, fourths, and eighths.
• Ask the students to use the same process they used in guided practice to create squares that represent halves, fourths, and eighths.
• By the end of the independent working time, students should have 8 sets of shapes: 4 circles that represent a whole, halves, fourths, and eighths, as well as 4 squares that represent these same fractions.