Ten 35-minute studio… | Year 4 Inquiry · T1 W3–4 · Teacher Sequence

Run after that day's separate English and maths when practical. For Days 15 and 20, administer the subject packs' unseen checks first; these project blocks are later, guided applications. Choose a fictional exhibit context with the class or let students choose one individually. Prepare original texts, the blank exhibit mat or text/tactile route, broad same-size strips and thick markers. A child can use speech, AAC, sign, writing, drawing or child-directed adult placement. Record what the child decided and what support occurred. The clean card for each day has no answers; keep staff checks private.

Week 3 · Can someone follow a model and understand the numbers?

Day 11 · An invitation, an instruction, an explanation

Aim: distinguish purpose and stage of three short original texts; place a tenth on a fixed 0–1 rail. Prepare: Texts A–C, ten equal paper spaces and one broad marker.

Meet · 5 min. Read A, B and C aloud, without saying which is best. Ask which one invites, which gives steps and which explains a model. Accept a pointed or spoken choice with a reason.
Model · 7 min. Show 0 and 1 on a paper strip with ten equal gaps. Place 0.3 by counting three gaps from 0; say that 0.3 is three tenths of this one whole, not the number 3 or a distance to walk.
Make · 10 min. In a book cart, maker shelf, game display or garden-model context, each child makes one opening line for a visitor and puts 0.7 on a separate blank rail. Adult may draw under child direction.
Visitor test · 9 min. A willing peer or private adult says where to start and what 0.7 means. If no visitor is available, teacher plays a fictional visitor and marks the simulation. Child revises a label or rail mark if needed.
Keep · 4 min. Save first and revised rail, the child's text-purpose reason and one next question. If ten ticks were counted as ten parts, rebuild ten spaces with ten broad cards.

Day 12 · Zoom before writing a claim

Aim: locate a hundredth between tenths and choose a useful heading for a visitor. Prepare: 0.20–0.30 zoom with ten equal gaps, Text B, blank exhibit mat.

Meet · 5 min. Read Text B; ask what heading would help a visitor find the starting step. Contrast a heading with an unsupported claim about a real site.
Model · 7 min. Relabel 0.2 as 0.20 and 0.3 as 0.30. Partition the interval into ten equal gaps; place 0.25 at the fifth gap, halfway between 0.20 and 0.30.
Make · 10 min. Child selects a different point, 0.23 or 0.28, labels the zoom and adds one concise heading and instruction. They may use raised gaps or direct an adult's marker.
Visitor test · 9 min. Listener follows the heading, says which endpoints and gap size were used, and names one unclear step. Child makes one purposeful edit without changing the mathematical scale.
Keep · 4 min. Record the child's point and explanation; if 0.25 is placed on a plain ten-gap 0–1 line as though each gap were a hundredth, reteach the zoom rather than accepting a neat picture.

Day 13 · One whole, then more

Aim: distinguish 1.05 from 1.2 and explain why the model needs two scales. Prepare: a 0–2 tenths rail and a 1.00–1.10 hundredths zoom; Text C.

Meet · 5 min. Read Text C and ask which sentence names the whole, which names equal parts and which limits what the model can show.
Model · 7 min. Place 1.2 on the 0–2 tenths rail. Rename it 1.20. Use the separate hundredths zoom to place 1.05 five gaps after 1.00; therefore 1.05 is less than 1.20.
Make · 10 min. Child creates two small rail labels for a fictional exhibit: one at 1.3 and one at 1.03. Ask for the whole and gap size on each. The card must not pretend a coarse line shows hundredths exactly.
Visitor test · 9 min. Visitor tries the two labels and asks which is nearer 1. Child explains the 0.03 and 0.30 parts using strips or words, then changes a confusing label.
Keep · 4 min. Save both scales and the explanation. If the child decides 1.03 is greater because 03 has two digits, align places: 1.03 and 1.30.

Day 14 · A clear picture can still mislead

Aim: test an uneven scale and revise an evidence-bound visitor explanation. Prepare: a deliberately uneven five-gap 0–1 line labelled 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1; an equal-gap replacement and Text D.

Meet · 5 min. Read Text D; ask what is one person's opinion and what could be checked about the rail without trusting that opinion.
Model · 7 min. Show that a five-gap line labelled in fifths/two-tenths must have equal gaps. Put 0.42 and 0.47 on a correctly zoomed 0.40–0.50 line; 0.42 comes before 0.47 by five hundredths.
Make · 10 min. Child fixes the uneven rail, then writes or directs a two-sentence explanation: what changed and why the fixed version is more trustworthy. They can choose an original exhibit context.
Visitor test · 9 min. Listener checks equal spaces, endpoints and claim wording. Child marks first claim, feedback and revised claim separately; a silent/private response is valid.
Keep · 4 min. Record whether the child repaired the scale rather than just moving a dot. If the line still has unequal gaps, use equal-width paper cards and retest.

Day 15 · New visitor, new point

Aim: apply the exhibit routine to a different point after the separate subject checks. Prepare: blank 0.60–0.70 ten-gap zoom and a fictional visitor who cannot see a small label; do not use a Day 15 subject check sheet.

Meet · 5 min. Confirm the English and maths checks have already been kept. Remind students this studio is for revision, not another unseen mark.
Model · 7 min. On a different 0.40–0.50 zoom, show 0.44 at the fourth hundredth gap. Cover the worked model.
Make · 10 min. Child places 0.65 halfway along the 0.60–0.70 zoom and makes a label for a visitor who may need large print, tactile reference or a spoken guide. They choose the format; no real access certification is claimed.
Visitor test · 9 min. A willing visitor follows the guide and says where 0.65 sits; teacher notes child-led repair of a small or unclear label. A private teacher simulation can replace peer interaction.
Keep · 4 min. Save first placement, revision and support used. If the child places 0.65 at 0.6, revisit five of ten equal hundredth gaps, not a permanent ability label.

Use one whole of fixed size each day. The original equal-whole maths aid supports the project. If a strip is divided unequally, treat it as a useful counterexample, not a fifth or quarter model.

Day 16 · Half the same whole

Aim: connect 1/2, 5/10 and 0.5 while writing a label that names the whole. Prepare: same-length halves and tenths strips, Text C.

Meet · 5 min. Ask what one whole is in the child's exhibit: the entire same-size paper display strip, not the collection of visitors or real shelf.
Model · 7 min. Align one of two equal parts with five of ten equal parts of a matching strip. Write 1/2 = 5/10 = 0.5 = 0.50 and show their shared midpoint on 0–1.
Make · 10 min. Child makes a half-display panel and a short visitor label with the whole, equal parts and matching decimal. Adult can place cards under child instruction.
Visitor test · 9 min. Visitor identifies the whole and checks the two strips match size. If they do not, child replaces the strip and edits the explanation rather than defending a false equivalence.
Keep · 4 min. Save both models and the reason; if a child thinks 0.50 is larger than 0.5, align five tenths with fifty hundredths.

Day 17 · A quarter is not four tenths

Aim: connect 1/4 with 25/100 and 0.25 while separating a source-supported explanation from a preference. Prepare: same-size four-part strip and hundred-grid, Text D.

Meet · 5 min. Read Text D and sort “I liked the label” as a fictional opinion. A visitor's actual response is unknown unless obtained and recorded.
Model · 7 min. Align one of four equal parts with 25 of 100 equal cells from the same whole: 1/4 = 25/100 = 0.25. Show 3/4 = 75/100 = 0.75 on another same-size whole.
Make · 10 min. Child makes a quarter label and a second three-quarter mark, then writes or dictates a sentence using the word because to name the equal-whole evidence.
Visitor test · 9 min. Listener checks the wholes match and asks whether 0.25 means twenty-five hundredths of this model. Child revises any unsupported “all visitors prefer it” claim.
Keep · 4 min. Record model, sentence and revision. If 1/4 becomes 0.4, physically partition 100 equal cells into four equal groups of 25.

Day 18 · Two fifths, four tenths

Aim: show the equivalence 2/5 = 4/10 = 0.4 using equal whole strips and a useful explanation. Prepare: five equal panels, a same-length ten-part strip and Texts B/C.

Meet · 5 min. Compare Text B's order with Text C's explanation: a visitor may need both a step and a reason, in different stages.
Model · 7 min. Shade two of five equal panels. Split each fifth into two equal pieces to show four of ten parts of the same whole; 4/10 = 0.4 = 0.40.
Make · 10 min. Child lays out or directs an original two-fifths exhibit panel, writes a visitor step and an explanation naming the fixed whole. Offer tactile, large-print or AAC mode without changing the concept.
Visitor test · 9 min. Listener places a marker at 0.4 on 0–1 and explains which model agrees. Child notes if the listener needed another label and revises once.
Keep · 4 min. Save the two matching strips and explanation. If someone says 2/5 = 0.2 because of the numerator, re-split the whole into ten equal parts.

Day 19 · Publish a guide with a limit

Aim: use 3/5 = 6/10 = 0.6 to make a short audience-aware guide that distinguishes model from real place. Prepare: same-size five/ten strips and original Texts A–D.

Meet · 5 min. Ask a child-chosen visitor's likely question: where is 0.6, what is shaded, or can this rail be walked? Keep the last answer explicitly no; it is a number model.
Model · 7 min. Mark three of five equal panels and split them to six of ten: 3/5 = 6/10 = 0.6. Read a model label that names the whole and says what the picture cannot tell us.
Make · 10 min. Child chooses context and makes a short guide with heading, one direction, one mathematical explanation and one limitation. They may compose via writing, AAC, recorded dictation only if locally permitted, or adult transcription labelled as such.
Visitor test · 9 min. With consent, listener uses the guide and asks one real question. Child revises a word, diagram or order based on that question. If no listener, label the teacher role simulation honestly.
Keep · 4 min. Retain first and revised copies and exact audience comment. Separate text-quality feedback from whether the fraction model is mathematically valid.

Aim: apply the same whole reasoning to 4/5 = 8/10 = 0.8 after the separate fresh subject checks. Prepare: five equal blank panels, a same-size ten-part strip, a blank exhibit mat and no Day 20 subject check items.

Meet · 5 min. Put away the English and maths check sheets. Invite students to show what has changed in their exhibit, with no demand for public presentation.
Model · 7 min. On a different sample, show 1/5 = 2/10 = 0.2, then cover it. State that the whole must remain the same for today's comparison.
Make · 10 min. Child represents 4/5 and 8/10 on matching wholes, names 0.8/0.80 and adds one clear explanation and one model limit to the final card.
Visitor test · 9 min. A consenting listener or private adult checks the answer without being given the staff key; child revises any unclear layout. Record if this was a real share, a private share or a fictional role play.
Keep · 4 min. Save first model, exact explanation, revision and next teaching move. If parts are unequal or wholes differ, do not score the equivalence from appearance alone; rebuild with equal-size strips.

These are ten additional, optional 35-minute project blocks. They do not turn two 25-minute subject lessons into a whole school day. Original script © NeuroForgeIO Pty Ltd 2026, CC BY 4.0; credit, link and note changes. Exact partial national links are in the crosswalk; local syllabus, access and classroom review remain due.