Quarter and Half Turns: a week of ready-to-teach maths

Five days of lessons for Year 2 Measurement. Print this pack and the week is prepared: each day has a one-page plan and a student worksheet, plus cut-out cards, a mini-check and every answer.

Start here: five minutes to Monday

1. Skim the week at a glance on the next page.
2. Print the five days. Each day is two A4 sheets: a plan and a worksheet.
3. Cut out the two card sheets once; they are reused all week.
4. Open the free interactive unit on your board. Every plan tells you which picture to show and when.
5. Teach straight from the plan. Timings, talk prompts, misconceptions and answers are all on the one page.

No maths background needed

This pack is written for the busy generalist teacher. Each plan explains the idea in plain words, lists the misconceptions children bring, and gives model answers, so you can walk in and teach it. Turning is a stand-up, hands-on topic: the body is the best instrument for measuring a turn.

One day, one lesson

The five lessons fill a week of maths, one lesson of about 50 minutes a day. Run them in order: each day stands on the one before. Every lesson can also split into a short warm-up and a main session if your timetable runs small blocks.

The week at a glance

One lesson a day for a week. Each day stands on the day before, so run them in order.

How the week builds

Day 1 turns all the way around and names the four landmarks; Day 2 stops at the half turn and feels what it is to face the other way; Day 3 splits the turn into quarters and gives them a direction; Day 4 turns almost all the way, three quarters; and Day 5 reads turns off the everyday world. It builds on Reading the Clock from earlier in the year, where the hands were already turning, and it closes the Year 2 measurement strand.

Materials for the week (one trip)

• From the classroom: scissors, pencils, this pack printed, and a split pin or a small blob of sticky tack for the spinner.
• From home or the craft box: a paper plate or a jar lid to turn is handy, and a clock or watch with hands to point to. Nothing to buy.
• Cut out once, use all week: the turn spinner, the turn-fraction cards, the direction cards and the turn mat in this pack.

Dear families

This week in maths, Year 2 measures turning. We turn all the way around, half around, a quarter and three quarters, and we give each turn its name.

Try this at home

• Stand together and call a turn: make a half turn, a quarter turn, a full turn. Check which way each of you ends up facing.
• Find turns around the house: a door handle, a tap, a key, the hands of a clock, a lid on a jar. Name the turn each one makes.
• Clockwise or anticlockwise? Turn a lid to open it, then to close it, and say which way each goes.
• Play a turning game: one caller says a turn, everyone turns, and the caller checks who is facing the right way.

My turns this week

Fill one row a day. Tick when you could show the turn to someone.

Printed from the free seegongsik Quarter and Half Turns teaching pack · seegongsik.com/au/y2/measurement/AC9M2M05/pack

Once around: the full turn

Turning is the last measurement of the year. Today children turn all the way around one full turn and meet the four landmarks on the circle: a quarter, a half, three quarters and the full turn home. The body is the best instrument, so everyone stands.

We are learning to

• turn all the way around to make one full turn,
• see that a full turn ends facing the same way it started,
• name a quarter, a half, a three-quarter and a full turn.

Success criteria

• I can make a full turn and stop facing the way I began.
• I can say how many quarters make a half, a three-quarter and a full turn.

You need

The turn spinner (cut-out sheet 1), one per pair, with a split pin or a blob of sticky tack. The worksheet, one per child. A clear space to stand and turn.

Lesson flow (about 50 minutes)

Two half-sessions instead? End Session A after the stand-and-turn. Start Session B with the spinner, quarter by quarter.

Watch for these ideas

• Thinking a full turn leaves you facing a new way: a full turn returns you to the start, facing exactly as you began.
• Counting the marks instead of the sweeps: a quarter turn is the space swept between two marks, not the marks themselves.
• Turning slowly and calling it a bigger turn: the size of a turn is how far around, not how long it takes.

Answers

• How many quarters: a quarter turn is 1, a half turn is 2, a three-quarter turn is 3, a full turn is 4.
• Stand and turn: after a full turn you finish facing the same way you began.
• Draw: after a full turn the arrow points the same way as before, straight up.

Once around the circle

A full turn goes all the way around the circle and back to the start. A quarter, a half and a three-quarter turn are parts of the way around.

How many quarters?

Stand and turn

Stand up. Face the front. Make one full turn. Tick the box: I finished facing the same way □   or a new way □

Draw the turn

Draw an arrow pointing up. Then draw where the arrow points after a full turn.

Facing the other way: the half turn

A half turn is two quarters: it faces you the opposite way, so whatever was behind you is now in front. Today children stand and turn, and feel the half turn with their whole body.

We are learning to

• make a half turn with my body,
• see that a half turn faces me the opposite way,
• find what is behind me by making a half turn.

Success criteria

• I can make a half turn and name what I now face.
• I can say that a half turn is the same as two quarter turns.

You need

A clear space to stand and turn. The turn mat (cut-out sheet 2) is handy on the floor. The worksheet, one per child.

Lesson flow (about 50 minutes)

Two half-sessions instead? End Session A after Behind you. Start Session B on the turn mat with Spin to the wall.

Watch for these ideas

• Making a quarter turn when asked for a half: a half turn goes all the way to the opposite side, not just to the side.
• Forgetting that a half turn undoes itself: a half turn and another half turn the same way come back to the start.
• Thinking the answer depends on the direction: clockwise or anticlockwise, a half turn lands on the same opposite wall.

Answers

• Stand and turn: the front becomes the back, the right side becomes the left side, the back becomes the front.
• Half turn or not: yes, the 12 to the 6 is a half turn; a quarter turn and another the same way make a half turn.
• Draw: after a half turn the arrow points straight down, the opposite way.

Facing the other way

A half turn faces you the opposite way. What was behind you is now in front.

Stand and turn

Stand up and face each way. Make a half turn. Write the way you face now.

Half turn or not?

The minute hand goes from the 12 to the 6. Is that a half turn? Yes □   No □

A quarter turn and another quarter turn the same way make a ____ turn.

Draw the turn

Draw an arrow pointing up. Draw where it points after a half turn.

Two ways to turn: the quarter turn

A quarter turn is one corner of the circle. It can go two ways: clockwise, the way the hands of a clock travel, or anticlockwise, the other way. And one undoes the other.

We are learning to

• make a quarter turn clockwise and anticlockwise,
• name the way the hands of a clock travel as clockwise,
• see that a quarter turn one way is undone by a quarter turn the other way.

Success criteria

• I can turn a quarter turn clockwise and a quarter turn anticlockwise.
• I can get back to the start by turning the other way.

You need

The turn spinner and the direction cards (cut-out sheets 1 and 2). A clock or watch to point to. The worksheet, one per child.

Lesson flow (about 50 minutes)

Two half-sessions instead? End Session A after Which way is clockwise. Start Session B with the spinner.

Watch for these ideas

• Mixing up clockwise and anticlockwise: clockwise is the way the hands of a clock go.
• Thinking the two ways give different sized turns: a quarter clockwise and a quarter anticlockwise are the same size, only the direction differs.
• Undoing with the same direction: a quarter clockwise is undone by a quarter anticlockwise, not by another quarter clockwise.

Answers

• The hands of a clock go clockwise.
• Turn and face: a quarter turn clockwise faces the right side; a quarter turn anticlockwise faces the left side.
• A quarter clockwise then a quarter anticlockwise leaves you facing the front, the same way you began.
• Draw: after a quarter turn clockwise the arrow points to the right.

Two ways to turn a quarter

A quarter turn can go clockwise or anticlockwise. Clockwise is the way the hands of a clock travel.

Which way?

The hands of a clock go ____________________.

Turn and face

Stand up and face the front. Make each turn. Write the way you face now.

Undo it

A quarter turn clockwise, then a quarter turn anticlockwise, leaves me facing ____________________.

Draw the turn

Draw an arrow pointing up. Draw where it points after a quarter turn clockwise.

Almost around: the three-quarter turn

Three quarters is three corners of the circle, with only one quarter left to go. Today children turn three quarters and discover that turns add up: three quarter turns make a three-quarter turn, and one more quarter makes a full turn.

We are learning to

• make a three-quarter turn,
• see that a three-quarter turn is three quarter turns,
• know that one more quarter turn makes a full turn.

Success criteria

• I can make a three-quarter turn and name what I face.
• I can say that three quarters and one more quarter make a full turn.

You need

The turn spinner and the turn-fraction cards (cut-out sheet 1). A clear space to stand and turn. The worksheet, one per child.

Lesson flow (about 50 minutes)

Two half-sessions instead? End Session A after Three corners. Start Session B with Reach the mark.

Watch for these ideas

• Calling three quarters a quarter: they land on opposite sides. A three-quarter turn clockwise faces the same way as a quarter turn the other way, but they are different turns.
• Losing count past a half: encourage counting each quarter, one corner at a time.
• Thinking three quarters is the most you can turn: one more quarter makes a full turn, all the way around.

Answers

• A three-quarter turn is 3 quarter turns; one more quarter turn makes a full turn.
• Quarters left to a full turn: a quarter turn has 3 left, a half turn has 2 left, a three-quarter turn has 1 left, a full turn has 0 left.
• After a three-quarter turn clockwise from the front you face the left side.
• Draw: after a three-quarter turn clockwise the arrow points to the left.

Almost all the way around

Three quarters is three corners of the circle. Only one quarter is left to go.

Count it

A three-quarter turn is ____ quarter turns. One more quarter turn makes a ____ turn.

How much is left to a full turn?

Write how many quarter turns are still left to go all the way around.

Turn and face

Face the front. Make a three-quarter turn clockwise. Now I face ____________________.

Draw the turn

Draw an arrow pointing up. Draw where it points after a three-quarter turn clockwise.

Turns all around us

Now the names exist, turns appear everywhere. A tap opens with about a half turn, a door handle drops a quarter, and a clock hand sweeps a full turn every hour. Today children read turns off the everyday world and describe and demonstrate them.

We are learning to

• name the turn an everyday object makes,
• describe a turn in everyday words,
• demonstrate a turn with my body or an object.

Success criteria

• I can name the turn a clock hand or a handle makes.
• I can show a quarter, half, three-quarter or full turn when asked.

You need

A jar lid, a tap or a door handle to turn, and a clock with hands. The turn-fraction cards (cut-out sheet 1). The worksheet, one per child.

Lesson flow (about 50 minutes)

Two half-sessions instead? End Session A after Turns hunt. Start Session B with Name and show.

Watch for these ideas

• Judging a turn by the size of the object, not the amount it turns: a small key and a big wheel can each make a quarter turn.
• Missing a full turn on the clock: the minute hand makes one full turn every hour, back to the 12.
• Describing only the direction, not the amount: a good description names both, such as a quarter turn clockwise.

Answers

• In the wild: 1 a half turn, 2 a quarter turn, 3 a three-quarter turn, 4 a full turn, 5 a full turn.
• Show it: check the arrow matches the turn named. A quarter is one corner, a half is straight across, three quarters is three corners, a full turn is all the way around back to the start.

Name the turn

Turns are everywhere. Watch each one and name it: a quarter, a half, a three-quarter or a full turn.

In the wild

Show it

Choose a turn. Stand up and demonstrate it to a partner. Draw an arrow to show the turn you chose, from where it starts to where it stops.

The turn spinner

Cut out the dial and one arrow. Push a split pin or a blob of sticky tack through the round end of the arrow and the centre of the dial. Turn the arrow one quarter at a time, from the 12 to the 3 to the 6 to the 9 and back to the 12.

The arrow (cut out one each)

Turn-fraction cards (two sets)

Match a card to a turn on the spinner, or hold up the card that names a turn you see.

Teacher note: the marks on the dial are the clock numbers 12, 3, 6 and 9, so a quarter turn on the spinner is the same quarter a clock hand sweeps. This is the dial the on-screen unit spins.

Direction cards and a turn mat

Cut out the direction cards for clockwise and anticlockwise. Cut out the turn mat, put it on the floor, and stand in the middle to turn to each side.

Which way? (two sets)

The turn mat

Stand on the centre. Turn to face the front, the right, the back and the left. The opposite side is always a half turn away.

Teacher note: the four positions are a quarter turn apart, so facing the opposite side is a half turn and facing the next side along is a quarter turn. Use front, right, back and left, or the compass letters, whichever your class knows.

What we know: quarter and half turns

Work on your own. Stand up and turn if it helps.

1. A quarter turn sweeps ____ corner of the circle. A three-quarter turn sweeps ____ corners.
2. The minute hand goes from the 12 clockwise round to the 9. Name the turn: ____
3. You face the window. You make a half turn. You now face ____
4. Three quarter turns the same way make a ____ turn. Four quarter turns the same way make a ____ turn.
5. Which way do the hands of a clock turn, clockwise or anticlockwise? ____
6. A door handle turns down a quarter turn, then springs back up a quarter turn. Altogether it ends up ____
7. How many quarter turns make one full turn? ____
8. Stand and face the front. Make a three-quarter turn clockwise. Which way do you face now? Draw an arrow below to show it.

Answers and marking guide

Answers

1. 1 corner; 3 corners.
2. a three-quarter turn (from the 12 clockwise past the 3 and the 6 to the 9 is three quarters).
3. the opposite way (the wall straight behind you).
4. a three-quarter turn; a full turn.
5. clockwise.
6. where it started (pointing the same way it began; the second quarter undoes the first).
7. 4.
8. the left side (up to the right is one quarter, to the back is two, to the left is three).

A quick three-level guide

Eight questions, four ideas. A child at standard names all four turns, knows clockwise from anticlockwise, and sees that turns add up.

Weekly class record

Jot a tick as you move around the room; the mini-check fills any gaps. A tick a day is plenty.

The five columns are the five days: the full turn, the half turn, the quarter turn, the three-quarter turn, and turns in everyday situations.