Show on the IWB the strip as a chocolate bar length (one long unshaded strip). Ask pupils to picture a tub of twelve counters as a set. Take two or three hands-up answers, not open call-outs. Give five seconds of quiet think-time first.

A real chocolate bar is an optional upgrade if you happen to have one; the projected image runs the hook just as well. Listen for whether pupils talk about equal halves — that is the idea this lesson rests on.

Point at the equal parts before the shaded part every time; keep saying the strip is a length cut into equal parts.

Strip 1: two equal pieces, one shaded, one half.

Before the quarter strip, ask: half or quarter, which is smaller? Two hands up, then reveal. This holds the class across the longest wait.

Strip 2: four equal pieces, one shaded, one quarter.

Stacked pair: top is one half, bottom is four pieces with two shaded, two quarters. Run your finger down the right edge of both shaded parts so pupils see they end at the same place. Two quarters covers the same length as one half. Seed of equivalence, now seen not just said.

Strip 4: three equal pieces, one shaded, one third. Note it sits between a half and a quarter in size.

Draw a rectangle on the IWB and divide it into four equal parts before shading, narrating the equal parts first. Take one hands-up check: how many equal parts before we shade? And how many do we shade for one quarter?

This is the on-screen 'shape' demonstration the title promises, modelled before pupils attempt their own in the copybook moment.

This round is for talking it through together — pupils take turns at the board and the class agrees or corrects out loud.

Give each table twelve counters. Call a fraction (one half, one quarter, one third of the set). One pupil shares the twelve counters into the matching number of equal groups under the IWB camera; the watching tables predict and then count how many are in one group.

• One half of 12 → two equal groups → 6 in one group.
• One quarter of 12 → four equal groups → 3 in one group.
• One third of 12 → three equal groups → 4 in one group.

Watch for pupils who count all the groups instead of just one — the fraction is one group, not the whole share. Revoice: so one quarter is just one of the four equal piles.

These are the practice questions — pupils take turns at the board, check each answer, and the class confirms before moving on. Keep the board work brisk rather than over-explaining. Tick each round off the on-screen list so pupils can see where they are in the sequence.

Real counters circulate; a pupil shares each set into equal groups while the class predicts the count in one group.

• One half of 6 → 3.
• One half of 10 → 5.
• One quarter of 8 → 2.
• One third of 9 → 3.
• Stretch (only if time): one third of 12 → 4.

The recurring callout: how many equal groups, then how many in one group? Catch the slip of counting all the groups.

Keep this brief. The Pupil Practice page (page 30) follows for paper work at the desks.