In Rabbit and Hare Divide an Apple, two bunnies try to share their food equally.
Read the book aloud.
Ask the children questions about the story, such as: What could Rabbit and Hare have done to share the mushroom evenly after it broke into uneven pieces?
Materials
- Rabbit and Hare Divide an Apple, by Harriet Ziefert
- Optional: Whiteboard/flip chart and marker to help illustrate how to divide whole objects into equal pieces.
Preparation
- Read the story through before presenting it to the children. Think about how you might engage your children in solving the equal sharing problems in the story (see Directions for some suggestions).
Directions
In the read-aloud book Rabbit and Hare Divide an Apple, Rabbit and Hare have trouble dividing a mushroom evenly. Raccoon offers to help solve the problem, but he eats the whole thing! So Rabbit and Hare try dividing an apple themselves.
- Before You Read: Move your finger across the words as you read the title of the book and the names of the author and illustrator. Invite the children to look at the art on the book cover and say what they see. Ask, What does it mean to divide something? If you were going to divide this apple, how would you do it? (Accept multiple answers.)
- As You Read: Discuss and ask the children questions about the equal-sharing problems on different pages in the story. For example:
- When the mushroom does not break in half, ask the children, What could Rabbit and Hare have done to get equal shares?
- Briefly explore the concept of bigger with the children. Point to the bigger piece. Ask, If Rabbit got this piece and Hare got this piece, would it be an equal share?
- When Raccoon offers to make the pieces equal by biting the bigger one, ask the children what they would say to Raccoon, and why.
- On the next page, when Raccoon eats the final piece of the mushroom, ask the children if they think it was fair for Raccoon to eat the whole mushroom, and why.
- When Rabbit and Hare find the apple, ask how they should divide it so they have equal shares.
- When Raccoon returns, ask the children what Rabbit and Hare should do now.
- Ask the children what they think of Rabbit and Hare’s final solution.
- After You Read: Show the children materials such as paper or modeling that can be torn or cut into parts. Divide each material into two unequal portions. For each material, discuss, Which piece is bigger? Smaller? If desired, use a whiteboard or a flip chart to illustrate how to divide the materials equally. Let the children suggest strategies for dividing the materials equally. Repeat these steps using the foods from the story.