25 minutes · AC9MFN06 (partial) · educator review pending
Success: Child shares eight counters between two mats as four each, then shares seven as three each with one spare, keeping the two allocated shares equal.
Prepare: eight counters and remove one for the second round, two mats and a clearly marked spare zone, S02/S03 and optional S08 from print aids. Counters are indivisible in this lesson.
- Retrieve, 3 min. Reset six counters and ask for yesterday's equal result: three and three.
- Model, 5 min. Read S02. Deal eight one by one to two mats; say, “Four each and none waiting.” Remove one, deal the remaining seven anew, and leave the last in the spare zone. Say, “Three each and one waiting. I cannot put the last whole counter on just one mat and keep equal counts.”
- Game, 10 min. Partners alternate dealer and checker for S02 then S03. Checker names recipient count before dealing and confirms every counter is on exactly one mat or in spare. Let partners invent another set of five or six; teacher records three focus learners' rule and result.
- Fresh check, 4 min. Give seven newly arranged counters; child shares to two and explains the spare. If ready, use S08 five counters and ask for 2/2/1.
- Close, 3 min. Ask, “Are the two allocated shares equal?” Key: eight → 4/4/0; seven → 3/3/1; five → 2/2/1. A spare does not disappear.
If the child says seven cannot be shared at all: Affirm that all seven cannot be allocated equally as whole counters under this rule; then show equal allocated shares with one held aside. Access and record: Use a tactile spare box or the word “waiting,” not colour alone. Accept pointing, speech, AAC or directed adult moves. Note whether the child tracked the spare and stated which quantity was equal.