25 minutes · AC9MFN06 (partial) · educator review pending
Success: Child shares six indivisible counters between two named mats by giving one to each in turn, then shows that each mat has three. Child can explain why 4/2 would not meet this equal-count rule.
Prepare: six large counters, two equal-sized labelled recipient mats and spare zone from the print aids or A4 mat, S01. The mats represent imaginary art tables, not children in the class.
- Retrieve, 3 min. Show yesterday's full ten-frame. Ask what happens to the number when counters move. Clear it and set out six.
- Model, 5 min. Read S01. Say, “Our rule is the same number of brush counters at each table. I will give one to A, one to B, then repeat.” Deal all six; count A=3 and B=3. Rearrange into 4/2 and ask whether counts are equal.
- Partners try, 10 min. Children reset six and make equal shares twice, first starting with A and then B. One directs, one moves; swap. Invite a drawing or two-line record. Teacher checks three focus learners: “How do you know you have not missed a counter?”
- Fresh check, 4 min. With a new six-counter arrangement, child shares without copying the teacher's placement and reports each count and spare. Offer a four-counter smaller start only if the six-item task was not accessible, recording the different task.
- Close, 3 min. Compare equal 3/3 with unequal 4/2. Key: six shared to two mats is 3 each, 0 spare; 4/2 uses six but is unequal under this rule. The adapted four-counter task is 2 each, 0 spare.
If the child gives two to one mat at a time: Pair the mats in rounds: one to A and one to B, then check after each round. Do not call a child unfair. Access and record: Large tactile mats, AAC labels, adult movement directed by the child or a quiet pair are available. Record whether the child used rounds, counted final shares, and explained equality independently.