Students will:
- understand one half as one of 2 equal parts
- understand one half of an area
- explore and find one half of a collection
- find one half of a number
Cutting a sandwich or slice of bread.
Encourage students to explain how they can share a slice of bread or sandwich between 2 people. Give them a square of paper and ask them to cut or fold it to show you. Model by making fairy bread!
Cutting fruit or play dough shapes in half.
Ask students to make a ball of play dough and pretend it is an apple or orange - how would they show half? Model with real fruit if appropriate.
Although you will not be introducing the written fraction for one half in the early years, it will not hurt to let your learners free-play with commercially produced manipulatives if they are available in your school. 
Half an area / shape
A printable game in our Math Pack 42 includes an activity that will encourage students to identify shapes that show one half.
Half a collection
Make a group of buttons and talk about the number of each color - half are pink, 3 out of 6 are yellow.
2 printable activities are included in our Math Pack 42 to help students learn to identify half of a collection - Half the Dinner and Half the Cookies.
Free play with equipment
Provide students with math manipulatives and encourage them to find ways to show one half. Let them take photos with the class ipad or draw them to record their findings. At the end of the session, provide time for them to talk about or even show their findings with the class group.
Paper folding
Make a craft that shows halves or provide simple paper shapes and encourage students to fold each shape in half. Discuss how many ways they found to fold a shape in half and encourage them to cut the shapes and put the halves back together again like a puzzle.
Coloring or painting - color half of a picture.
We have a free pumpkin coloring page over in our Coloring Club. Students identify pumpkin shapes that show 2 equal parts and color them.
Ten frames
Ask students to show counters in half of the frame - encourage them to say '5 out of 10' have counters or similar - identifying the total and the part. Students could cut shapes from grid paper and draw dots on half the shape.
Number tracks
To introduce determining half of a number, give students a number track and ask them to fill the track with counters to show half.
There are 3 styles of number track cards in our Math Pack 42. If students find this challenging, scaffold their learning with counters underneath the number track.
Math Packs
Our Math Packs provide you with printable activities you could use in guided math, small group rotations, free independent exploration tubs or as fast-finishers. We have 2 so far that explore fractions:
Math Pack 42 - Working with One Half
We hope our post provides you with some new ideas or ignites a new idea for your lesson.
We hope our post provides you with some new ideas or ignites a new idea for your lesson.
If you find your students struggling with any aspect of early-fraction work, backtrack and revise:
- play with numbers - making numbers with equipment, create groups of counters, tokens etc
- the idea of a fair share, or equal groups
- the ability to match 1:1
- language - more, same, equal, different, less, part, part of, none left