Helping Young Children Conceptually Understand Partitioning Through Story-Based Apple Sharing: An Instructional Case Study

Partitioning—the act of dividing a whole into meaningful or equal parts—is a foundational mathematical idea that underlies children’s later understanding of fractions, ratios, and proportional reasoning (Clements & Sarama, 2021; Empson & Levi, 2011). Research indicates that young children can engage in sophisticated part–whole reasoning when mathematical tasks are embedded in meaningful, socially relevant contexts (Sophian, 2007; van den Heuvel-Panhuizen & Elia, 2012). This instructional case study examined how five preschool-aged children conceptualized partitioning through a story-based apple-sharing activity. Using a picture book read-aloud about sharing as the instructional anchor, children were invited to reason about how they would divide one apple among multiple characters if they were the main character, Hyun-i. Data sources included children’s drawings, transcribed teacher–child dialogue, and observational field notes. Qualitative analysis revealed emerging understandings of part–whole relationships, equal sharing, unit iteration, and fairness, alongside developmental variation in how partitioning strategies were constructed and justified. Findings highlight the instructional value of story-based mathematics experiences for supporting young children’s conceptual understanding of partitioning and offer implications for early childhood educators designing developmentally appropriate fraction-related learning opportunities through children’s literature.