Equal parts first
Children learn fractions as equal shares of one whole. Circles and bars show the same idea two ways, so the fraction is not tied to one shape.In the Australian Curriculum
- Year 2Seeing one-half as one of two equal parts, and linking halves, quarters and eighths through repeated halving (AC9M2N03).
- Year 2Using halves, quarters and eighths with shapes, objects and events (AC9M2M02).
- Year 3Representing unit fractions and their multiples in different ways.
- Year 4Finding equivalent fractions and placing fractions on a number line.
Version 9.0 revised when fractions are introduced. In the national curriculum, halves, quarters and eighths now arrive together in Year 2, through folding and halving the same shape again and again, and other unit fractions follow in Year 3.
In Australia the word is quarters, not fourths. When children read the sheets aloud, say “one quarter” for 1/4 and “three quarters” for 3/4, the same words they hear for quarter past and quarter to on the clock.
Summarised in our own words from the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics, Version 9.0 (ACARA).
