Display the pizza image on the IWB as pupils settle. Take three hands-up answers, not open call-outs.

Keep the talk on 'how many slices total' (8) and 'how many gone vs how many left' (3 gone, 5 left). The fraction language (5/8 left, 3/8 gone) will emerge in Watch and Notice — don't push for it here.

Walk the four examples in order, one at a time.

• 1/2 — anchor: 'two equal parts, one shaded'. Say it out loud: the bottom number names the SIZE of the parts.
• 3/4 — 'four equal parts, three shaded'. Ask: 'what fraction is NOT shaded?' (one quarter) to seed the part-whole complement.
• 5/8 — the hook returns: this is what 'three slices gone, five left' looks like as a fraction.
• 7/12 — the unfamiliar denominator. Ask: 'where might we see twelfths in real life?' Pupils will think of months in a year, hours on a clock, eggs in a dozen.

Do not move on from 7/12 until the class can name it aloud: 'twelve equal parts, seven shaded — seven twelfths.'

Three short engagement beats per fraction — ask the class to name the denominator, thumbs for equal slices, ask the class to name the fraction. This keeps the watching class active without crowding the pupil at the board.

Three different denominators to walk: 1/3, 2/5, 3/7. Each time, ask the class on the thumbs beat: 'are all the slices the same size?' — this is the bottom-number-equals-size-of-parts rule we will revoice at the wrap.

Rotate three pupils to the board, one per fraction. The 3/7 example is the trickiest — seven slices don't fall into a neat clock-face pattern. Narrate this slowly: 'seven equal slices, three of them shaded — that's three sevenths.'

This round is for talking it through together — no marking yet; pupils start checking their own answers in the Class Challenge that follows.

This round is the practice bank — pupils work the folding tasks at their seats; circulate and check each fold lands on equal parts before they shade. Keep the folding brisk rather than over-explaining.

Hand out three paper strips per pupil from the fraction_strips printable (Strip 1, Strip 2, plus a spare). The thirds fold is the deliberate stretch — pupils estimate, fold, check, refold, refine. The message is 'thirds are harder than halves and quarters', which sets up Lesson 32 on equivalence.

Look for the misconception: an uneven fold ('three pieces but one is bigger'). The fraction name only works if the parts are equal — head this off out loud the moment you spot it. Quick fix: open the strip back out, refold along the existing crease as a reference, then re-attempt.

The labelling convention is deliberate: unit fractions (1/2, 1/4, 1/8) name the SIZE of each section; the '3/8 shaded' note names HOW MUCH is shaded. Pupils should see both ideas living together on the same strip.