Introducing Division (II)

In the previous article we learned the two situations in which we need to use the division operation. This shows that while planning activities for the children, we will have to make special efforts to plan activities related to both the situations viz. partitive and measurement.

It is our experience that the idea of division does not occur easily and spontaneously to children through their normal activities like the ideas of addition. We have to be also careful about the readiness of the child to take up the concept of division. Teaching division too early without readiness on the part of the child is likely to create confusion in a child's mind.

Let us now see some of the activities through which child can be introduced the division operation. To begin with we always select smaller number of objects which can be shared completely. For example, ten objects to be shared between two/five children or nine objects to be shared between three. Once the child handles smaller number of objects confidently we can give him larger number of objects.

Early division activities:

• a) Sharing with the number-tray - The teacher/parent can use the empty paper boxes for this purpose. As shown in the figure here the box can be divided suitably using cardboard strips. If possible the ice trays also can be used for small objects like beans/seeds. In this exercise the child is given a particular number of objects (beans, fruit seeds, shells, coins, pencils, chalks, pictures, counters, buttons, cards, balls, marbles, sheets of papers etc.), and told to share them equally between certain sections of the paper box or ice tray.
  We can also make small paper trays using old greeting cards and staple/clip them together to make larger trays, having desired number of sections as shown in the left-hand figure . This activity provides for the understanding of partitive division. The question to be asked in this situation is of the type: 'How many objects are in each section of the tray?'
  
  

• b) Sharing small objects - This is another activity to understand division in the partitive situation. But, this is a group activity. In this case one child (the leader of the team) has a bag in which are a stated number (ten, say) of objects, such as shells. He is asked to share them between two (or the number told by us) other children. He gives them out one at a time and after he finishes the distribution the children find out the number of objects received by each (five).
• The copyright of the article Introducing Division (II) in Math for Kids is owned by Vidya Narayan Wadadekar . Permission to republish Introducing Division (II) in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

  Go To Page: 1 2

  Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic