For the helperhow to sit beside this lesson, and what this step is for
This step: Spark
Connects to what your guest already knows and makes them curious. Activating prior knowledge is one of the strongest predictors of new learning.
- Before you start
- About 20 small things to pair up — dried pasta, buttons, coins or blocks — plus paper and a pencil for drawing pairs. The Showdown option needs two dice or a set of number cards, and Street Numbers needs a short walk together, staying on the footpath. About 50 minutes in all, which is a little more than one comfortable sitting at this age; many families stop after the check and come back to the task the next day.
- What understanding sounds like
- Listen for 'pairs with none left over' or 'two equal groups' as the reason a number is even, for 'there's always just one without a partner' as the reason a number is odd, and for the reason the ones digit is enough: 'every ten is five pairs, so only the ones can leave one over'.
- A likely mix-up, and something that helps
- A common mix-up is deciding odd or even from the first digit, so 47 gets called even because 4 is even. You might ask, 'If we paired up 47 things, where would the leftover one come from — the tens or the ones?'
- If it comes easily
- For a quick thinker, one question to try is whether 1,000,001 is odd or even and how they could be sure without counting, or whether the ones digit could also tell them if a number shares into fives with none left over, and why.
- If it's a struggle
- If it's a struggle, one way is to stay with real counters for numbers up to 20, laying them out in two rows like partners, before moving on to the ones digit. If your child digs in their heels, you might do the pairing yourself and let them be the checker who spots the one left over. 'Odd' also means 'strange' in everyday English, which can confuse a child learning English as an additional language; saying 'odd, one left over' together keeps the maths meaning in view.
What Makes a Number Even?
🎯 Today's mission briefing
We are learning to explain what makes a number odd or even, and to tell which a number is from its ones digit.
You'll know you've got it when:
- I can show with counters or a drawing that an even number makes pairs, or two equal groups, with none left over
- I can explain why an odd number always has one left over
- I can use the ones digit to tell whether any whole number is odd or even, and explain why the other digits don't change it
Partners for everyone?
Imagine 27 children at a party, and the next game needs everyone in pairs. Will it work, or will someone be left without a partner? What about 34 children? You could line everyone up and check — but there's a much quicker way, and today you'll find out why it works for ANY number, even 4,563.