25 minutes · AC9MFN06 (partial) · educator review pending
Success: Child distinguishes “make groups of two from ten” from “share ten between two mats.” In the first, the given 2 is objects per group; in the second, it is the number of recipients.
Prepare: two sets of ten counters, five small group outlines, two recipient mats, S05/S06 and T02 from print aids. Keep the two tasks on separate sides of the table.
- Retrieve, 3 min. Show nine in groups of three. Ask, “What did the three mean?” Elicit three in each group.
- Model, 5 min. Read S05 and make one pair at a time: five groups of two. Clear the table. Read S06, name two recipient mats, and deal: five counters on each. Say, “The answer ‘five’ means different things: five groups here; five objects on each mat there.”
- Sort the instruction, 10 min. Partners draw either a group outline or a recipient mat when they hear S05, S06, S07 or S08, then act out S05 and S06 with counters. A partner checks every object's destination. Teacher asks three focus learners to name the given quantity before touching materials.
- Fresh check, 4 min. Give ten mixed counters and one unpractised wording: “Pack them in sets of two” or “Give them equally to two desks.” Child chooses layout and states the result with its unit. Record which wording was used.
- Close, 3 min. Hold up both finished layouts. Key: 10 grouped by 2 → 5 groups of 2; 10 shared to 2 → 5 on each mat; S07 8 grouped by 4 → 2 groups; S08 5 shared to 2 → 2 each and 1 spare.
If the child says only “five”: Ask “five what?” and point to one complete group or one recipient mat. Do not mark the count wrong before checking the unit. Access and record: Read the precise verb, use labelled tactile spaces, allow quiet sorting with AAC “groups / mats” cards. Note whether the rule was recognised before any placement.