EMMA'S FRACTIONS
Author: JL Cornish
Illustrator: n/a
Number of pages: 16
Publisher: Amazon (Australia) First published in: 2021 Format: Picturebook Is the mathematical focus explicit in the story? Yes Is this story part of a mathematics story series? Yes Preview and/or purchase this book on the Amazon websites: UK, USA, AUS, IND, CAN Synopsis by the author/publisher
An educational story written by a primary school teacher exploring halves, quarters and eighths. Perfect for the classroom! Emma is learning how to break quantities into equal parts. She practises when she plays with her brother, at school and even at her birthday party! Join Emma as she learns how to use repeated halving to break the whole into halves, quarters and eighths. Includes discussion questions and optional learning activities to help deepen understanding with your child or students. Emma's Fractions is part of a series that includes Emma's Counting and Emma's BIG Counting. |
“Instead she cut the cake in half, and now she had just 2. She still needed more pieces, and knew just what to do! She cut each part in half again, she saw that there were 4. Then she cut them into eights, by halving them once more!”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
JL Cornish’s ‘Emma’s Fractions’ (2021) is a title in the author’s series of mathematical story picture books. The story follows a young girl character, named Emma, as she splits a range of everyday objects into parts e.g., splitting play dough into two equal parts, 14 pencils into four equal parts, and a cake into eight equal parts. While the story does not have any actual storyline per se, it is still useful in providing a relatable everyday context to very young children to start relating fractions to their everyday life. (Having an actual storyline and getting to hear Emma’s own voice - and not just the narrative description - would have made the story more engaging and personal.) The page illustrations are useful in supporting young children to visualise the concept of fractions. Just like the other titles in the series, the book comes with some useful suggested discussion questions (e.g., “Where have you noticed fractions throughout the day?) and learning activities (e.g., “Using play dough, practise breaking the whole into different fractions.”). All in all, ‘Emma’s Fractions’ can be a useful resource to introduce the concept of early fractions to children, aged 4+ years old.
Recommended age range:
4+ years old
Relevant topics:
Fraction
Possible teaching activities:
At MathsThroughStories.org, we believe that stories can be meaningfully incorporated in mathematics teaching in different ways. Thus, we are inviting you to share your experience of how you have used this story in your mathematics lesson with other members of the community. By sharing your experience with us, you will be added to our team of On-line Contributors here, where you can also find our submission guideline.
JL Cornish’s ‘Emma’s Fractions’ (2021) is a title in the author’s series of mathematical story picture books. The story follows a young girl character, named Emma, as she splits a range of everyday objects into parts e.g., splitting play dough into two equal parts, 14 pencils into four equal parts, and a cake into eight equal parts. While the story does not have any actual storyline per se, it is still useful in providing a relatable everyday context to very young children to start relating fractions to their everyday life. (Having an actual storyline and getting to hear Emma’s own voice - and not just the narrative description - would have made the story more engaging and personal.) The page illustrations are useful in supporting young children to visualise the concept of fractions. Just like the other titles in the series, the book comes with some useful suggested discussion questions (e.g., “Where have you noticed fractions throughout the day?) and learning activities (e.g., “Using play dough, practise breaking the whole into different fractions.”). All in all, ‘Emma’s Fractions’ can be a useful resource to introduce the concept of early fractions to children, aged 4+ years old.
Recommended age range:
4+ years old
Relevant topics:
Fraction
Possible teaching activities:
At MathsThroughStories.org, we believe that stories can be meaningfully incorporated in mathematics teaching in different ways. Thus, we are inviting you to share your experience of how you have used this story in your mathematics lesson with other members of the community. By sharing your experience with us, you will be added to our team of On-line Contributors here, where you can also find our submission guideline.