Give students a hundredths chart and a set of crayons. Here are three ideas for using hundredths charts to build students’ number sense with decimals:įinding Patterns. ![]() One benefit I’ve seen from students’ interactions with hundredths charts is their improved ability to estimate and round decimals (both of which require…you guessed it, NUMBER SENSE!). They can see which numbers are closer to others, they notice patterns with the numbers that fall in the middle of the chart, and they begin to notice regularities when counting by tenths or hundredths. When students use hundredths charts, they can see where numbers fall within the whole. Instead of a 10 by 10 grid with the numbers 1 through 100 listed in each square, the hundredths chart is filled with numbers 0.01 through 1. I enjoy using hundredths charts because they builds on the experiences students have had in lower grades with hundreds charts. Although there are many visuals that are helpful in developing students’ number sense with decimals, one visual I love using with students is a hundredths chart. Visuals are another important part of growing students’ number sense. To learn more, check out this post on our Instagram. Using the manipulatives in this way extends their understanding of place value into work with decimals, but does so in a way that builds new learning on top of what they already know! If the flat represents 1, then the rod would be one-tenth (0.1) and the cube would be one-hundredth (0.01). The flat can represent 100, but it can also represent 1. Because the purpose of base-ten blocks is to show the “relationship of ten” from place to place, each piece can represent any power of ten that we want it to be! My go-to math manipulatives for working with decimals are base-ten blocks. Math manipulatives are amazing tools, that if used flexibly, can reveal all sorts of new information about numbers! If we want students to have a deep understanding of numbers, then we have to give them the opportunity to play and explore numbers with their hands. Be sure you don’t miss out on the FREE Decimal Number Puzzles at the end of this post! 1. Now, let’s take a look at two ways to build students’ number sense with decimals. ![]() Students are combining what they know about place value and fractions create new understandings about decimals. ![]() ![]() So when students struggle with knowing how many 0.01 are in 0.1, we have to go back to what they know about fractions-how many 1/100 are equivalent to 1/10?-and what they know about place value (a digit in one place has a value that is 10 times greater than that same digit in the place to its right). Essentially, they need to be able to show these fractions as decimals using what they know about place value. Now students need to learn how to take this understanding and show it using our base-ten system. They know that one-tenth is one-tenth because ten of those parts are equivalent to a whole. Students’ experience with numbers less than one up to this point have been with fractions. Students have to extend their understanding of place value into working with numbers that are less than one. Our work with decimals isn’t that much different, except that now we are working with parts of wholes. They know that our number system is made up of groups of ten and students can fluently bundle, unbundle, and make exchanges as needed to work with and manipulate whole numbers. When students have strong number sense with whole numbers, they deeply understand our base-ten number system. Did you know students’ number sense with decimals is directly dependent on their understanding of place value and fractions? It’s true! Think about this progression…
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