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This activity is an unusual context in which pupils can consolidate recognising, finding, naming and writing fractions. The rich environment also gives them the opportunity to identify, name and write equivalent fractions of a given fraction, represented visually as a chain. Furthermore, learners will be adding and subtracting fractions with the same denominators and denominators which are multiples of the same number.
Having some practical resource available for children to use if they wish is key to making it accessible. You may be able to borrow links that can be joined to make a chain (perhaps from your Early Years setting), or you could make decorations from loops of paper. Alternatively, you could use a rod of each number of connecting cubes that are the same colour for each length.
Have many examples of each size of chain and give the group the challenge of making a twenty-link chain. Depending on their experience of naming fractions, you could just use tens and fives to begin with to help the pupils have a feel for them being halves and quarters of the twenty.
Once they are comfortable about referring to the small chains as fractions of the twenty-link chain then you can invite them to explore the many ways of making the twenty-link chain as a whole.
The first part of the activity focusing on the twenty-link chain could be a 'simmering task', so that learners consider it out of lesson time and contribute their ideas to a working Maths wall, for example. You can then revisit that first part, perhaps even several times, before moving on to the twenty-four-link chain and the twenty-seven-link chain.
Tell me about the fractions you've decided to use.
Could you replace your half (or other suitable fraction) with two or three other small chains?
Encourage learners to take three or four random small chains and put them together. What fraction of the twenty/twenty-four/twenty-seven do they make?
For example, if you chose the 4, 6, 8 as $\frac{1}{5} + \frac{3}{10} + \frac{4}{10}$ you would have $\frac{9}{10}$ when twenty links is the whole 1.
The same three would be $\frac{1}{6} + \frac{1}{4} + \frac{1}{3}$ and you would have $\frac{3}{4}$ when twenty-four links is the whole 1.
Children who have difficulties with fine motor skills may need help manipulating the small chains.