L5 Recognise and Find One Third

Working Without Worksheets – Year 2 Fractions: Finding One Third (1/3) This Working Without Worksheets lesson introduces Year 2 pupils to the concept of thirds, building on their knowledge of halves and quarters. Through practical folding activities, visual models, and a real-world flag activity, children learn how to recognise and find one third of shapes and quantities. The lesson begins with a starter activity: Recap prior learning in fractions, multiplication and division, and addition and subtraction. Practise folding scrap paper into halves and then quarters, exploring different ways of doing this. Label the fractions on each part, reinforcing notation and the equivalence of 1/2 = 2/4. In the main input, children are introduced to thirds: Explore the word third, linking it to ordinal numbers (third = three). Explain that one third means one part out of three equal parts. Show how this is written as a fraction: 1/3. Look at shapes divided into three equal parts, emphasising that any of the parts could be shaded to show 1/3. Move on to finding one third of quantities, using the sweets example. Practise completing sentences such as “1/3 of 9 = 3”. For the independent activity, children explore thirds through flags of the world: Provide a sheet of flags, some split into three equal parts and some not. In maths books, create two headings: Thirds and Not Thirds. Cut and stick the flags into the correct columns, discussing why. Extension: design their own flag split into thirds, ensuring the parts are equal. The plenary reinforces learning: Share examples of flags that correctly show thirds. Ask children to explain why some flags do not show thirds (unequal parts). Reinforce fraction vocabulary: third, equal parts, numerator, denominator, one third. What’s Included in the Pack? ✔ Full teacher planning with objectives, vocabulary, and assessment questions ✔ Starter: folding paper into halves and quarters, labelling fractions ✔ Teacher modelling: introd