25 minutes · AC9MFN04 (different partitions of five, including zero), AC9MFN02 (recognise small parts); partial practice · educator review pending
Success: The child shows at least two different splits of five and explains or demonstrates that each split still has five altogether. An empty part is allowed and named zero.
Prepare per pair: five large counters, part-whole mat, cards 0–5 and two bowls. See print-aids.md.
- Retrieve, 3 min. Show two and three in separate spaces. Ask for each part and the whole; combine to verify five.
- Model, 6 min. Begin with five in A and none in B. Say, “This empty part has zero. Five and zero still make five.” Move one object from A to B: four and one. Move another: three and two. After each move, count the whole five and point out that no object was added or removed.
- Guided game, 9 min. Partners make a pretend display of five parcel cards on two shelves. One makes 0/5, 1/4 or 2/3; the other names both parts and checks all five, then swaps. Variants: five paper stars on two boards or five blocks in two trays. Allow a reversed left/right split without treating it as a new total.
- Fresh try, 4 min. “Show five as two parts in one way. Now move objects to make a different combination of part sizes. How many altogether both times?” Watch whether all five objects remain accounted for. If the child only swaps the sides, ask for a change such as 4/1 to 3/2.
- Check, 3 min. Show four in A and one in B, then move one from A to B. “Name both splits.” Key: 4 and 1 make 5; afterward 3 and 2 make 5. Also 5 and 0 make 5. Merely swapping the sides of a 3/2 split does not create a new combination of part sizes.
If zero is called ‘no part, so no whole’: Keep the five visible in the other space, pair numeral 0 with the empty part and recombine. If the child merely repeats a spoken number pair, ask them to build it and count the whole.
Access and record: Offer tactile boundaries, large objects, simple 0–5 numeral choices, AAC and directed partner movement. Record two actual splits, totals before/after and whether zero was understood as an empty part.