# Lesson 1

Name the Parts

### Lesson Purpose

The purpose of this lesson is for students to be introduced to fractions as numbers we write to describe the parts of a whole that has been partitioned into equal parts.

### Lesson Narrative

In previous grades, students partitioned circles and rectangles into two, three, or four equal pieces and described the pieces as “halves,” “thirds,” and “fourths.” They used the more concrete term “pieces.”

In this lesson, students extend this understanding to partition rectangles into six or eight equal parts and describe the parts as sixths or eighths. The term “parts” is used in these materials moving forward, but students recognize that “pieces” and “parts” are interchangeable and can use either one.

In the lesson synthesis, students learn the fractions $$\frac{1}{2}$$, $$\frac{1}{3}$$, $$\frac{1}{4}$$, $$\frac{1}{6}$$, and $$\frac{1}{8}$$ as the numbers used to represent the parts described as one half, one third, one fourth, one sixth, and one eighth.

• Action and Expression
• MLR2

### Learning Goals

Teacher Facing

• Partition shapes into 2, 3, 4, 6, or 8 parts with equal area and name those parts as halves, thirds, fourths, sixths, and eighths.
• Recognize that equal-size parts in a shape can be named with numbers called fractions.

### Student Facing

• Let’s name parts of a whole.

### Required Materials

Materials to Copy

• Card Sort: Partitions
• Fold and Name

### Required Preparation

Activity 1:

• Create a set of cards from the blackline master for each group of 2.

Activity 2:

• Each student needs 4 copies of the rectangle from the blackline master.
• Have extra rectangles available for students who need more than one try to fold the rectangles into equal parts.
• Create poster for synthesis:
number of equal parts name of each part
2 half
3 third
4 fourth
6
8

Building On

Building Towards

### Lesson Timeline

 Warm-up 10 min Activity 1 15 min Activity 2 20 min Lesson Synthesis 10 min Cool-down 5 min

### Teacher Reflection Questions

In grade 2, students learned to partition rectangles and were introduced to halves, thirds, and fourths. How did they leverage their prior experiences as they were introduced to fractions in this lesson?

### Suggested Centers

• Mystery Number (1–4), Stage 2: Three-digit Numbers (Supporting)
• Number Line Scoot (2–3), Stage 1: Twos, Fives, and Tens (Supporting)