Equal sharing and grouping: Year 1 Maths topic guide

What students learn in AC9M1N06

This unit helps students build a clear, usable understanding of Equal sharing and grouping. The goal is not to memorise one answer pattern. Students should be able to explain the idea, recognise it in a new example and apply it in a short practice or worksheet task.

• Start with the main idea: use mathematical modelling to solve practical problems involving equal sharing and grouping; represent the situations with diagrams, physical and virtual materials, and use calculation strategies to solve the problem.
• Use concrete examples, pictures, oral explanation and short written responses before moving to independent practice.
• modelling problems involving repeated equal group situations, such as, “How many wheels are needed for 3 cars?”, using materials and drawing a picture to show what they did, and recording the results with a number modelling practical problems involving equal sharing situations; for example, sharing a set of dominoes between the 2 players in a game, and then counting or subitising to ensure they both have the same number of tiles
• Finish with mixed questions so students must choose the correct strategy rather than copy the last example.

Curriculum coverage and elaborations

The content description and elaborations below show the curriculum ideas taught in this unit. Items marked as teaching context support lesson planning but may not appear in the initial eight-question activity.

• Content description: use mathematical modelling to solve practical problems involving equal sharing and grouping; represent the situations with diagrams, physical and virtual materials, and use calculation strategies to solve the problem
• E1: modelling problems involving repeated equal group situations, such as, “How many wheels are needed for 3 cars?”, using materials and drawing a picture to show what they did, and recording the results with a number
• E2: modelling practical problems involving equal sharing situations; for example, sharing a set of dominoes between the 2 players in a game, and then counting or subitising to ensure they both have the same number of tiles
• E3: modelling money problems involving equal sharing; for example, sorting coins from a money box according to their denominations, sharing the coins equally between 4 people, and using counting or subitising to ensure they have equal amounts of each denomination

How to use this unit

Read the topic guide, use the teacher slide for instruction, then complete the Worksheet, Practice and Test. These three activities use the same eight-question unit bank.

Common mistakes to watch for

• Rushing to a rule before checking the concrete model, drawing or number sentence.
• Using the correct answer once but not being able to explain why it works.
• Mixing up similar vocabulary such as more/less, before/after, longer/shorter or equal groups/sharing.

International curriculum mapping

This table gives closest-topic mapping for search and planning. The Australian Curriculum code is exact; overseas entries are broad equivalents because each jurisdiction structures outcomes differently.

Related Year 1 Maths topics

• AC9M1N01: Numbers to 120
• AC9M1N02: Partitioning tens and ones
• AC9M1N03: Skip counting and equal groups
• AC9M1N04: Addition and subtraction within 20
• AC9M1N05: Additive problem solving and money
• AC9M1A01: Skip-counting pattern sequences
• AC9M1A02: Repeating patterns
• AC9M1M01: Comparing length, mass, capacity and duration

Official curriculum references

• Australian Curriculum Version 9.0
• Victorian Curriculum F-10
• NSW Curriculum
• Common Core State Standards
• Next Generation Science Standards
• England National Curriculum
• New Zealand Curriculum
• NCERT textbooks