Introducing 'whole' and 'parts': part–part–whole

Spine 1: Number, Addition and Subtraction – Topic 1.2

Primary KS1 Year 1
Mastery PD Materials

Introduction

Introduce children to the concept of partitioning which underpins many of the subsequent segments, and build towards use of the part–part–whole model.

Teaching points

  • Teaching point 1: A ‘whole’ can be represented by one object; if some of the whole object is missing, it is not the ‘whole’.
     
  • Teaching point 2: A whole object can be split into two or more parts in many different ways. The parts might look different; each part will be smaller than the whole, and the parts can be combined to make the whole.
     
  • Teaching point 3: A ‘whole’ can be represented by a group of discrete objects. If some of the objects in the group are missing, it is not the whole group – it is part of the whole group.
     
  • Teaching point 4: A whole group of objects can be composed of two or more parts and this can be represented using a part–part–whole ‘cherry’ diagram. The group can be split in many different ways. The parts might look different; each part will be smaller than the whole group and the parts can be combined to make the whole group.