# Day 27 — The same five, a new split

**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](print-aids.md).

1. **Retrieve, 3 min.** Show two and three in separate spaces. Ask for each part and the whole; combine to verify five.
2. **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.
3. **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.
4. **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.
5. **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.