Weeks Thirteen and Fourteen – Decimals and Fractions

** Decimals and fractions are going to show up a lot throughout the year, probably more than
any other topic. Students often struggle with this because they lack a conceptual understand of
what fractions and decimals actually are. I would have introduced this earlier, but I felt that it
was more important to establish a positive Math culture and build confidence before tackling
this.
Goal of the cycle
- To provide students with an understanding of fractions and decimals at a basic
(conceptual) level by providing visuals and allowing students to work through problems.
Tasks and questions
Folding paper into thirds
Define fractions
Labelling Fractions – turn them into decimals

Decimal number lines

Define decimals
Make $5.00 5 different ways

Gattegno chart

Gattegno chart

Wyborney area tiles for decimals and fractions

Fraction Splat

Decimals and ratios problem

Area with decimals

Day One
Goal
- Students analyze number lines to see magnitude and develop a definition for decimals
Subordinated Tasks
- Constructing and deconstructing numbers
- Estimation
Delivery
- Table groups for discussion
 - Project this website: http://www.sineofthetimes.org/zooming-integers-magnifying-the-
number-line/
o Have kids predict where the red dot is and allow discussion as you zoom in.
o Draw attention to how zooming in allows us to see more numbers, but those
numbers were always there.
o There are several iterations of this on the website and the numbers get larger and
larger.
 I found that kids really like to do this and have had some intense debates
about what number the red dot is.
o After all numbers are done, ask, “what if I made the number line smaller instead
of larger? Could we do that?”
Project this number line: https://www.mathsisfun.com/numbers/number-line-zoom.html
- As you zoom in on this one, it shows halves, then tenths between the whole numbers.
- It also shows integers, which is a nice review for kids
- Explain that decimals are always there, we just don’t see them when we work with whole
numbers,
Consolidation
- Have kids create a definition for decimals in their notebooks.

Day two – paper folding

Goal
- Students will create a visual representation of fractions
Subordinated Tasks
- Compose and decompose numbers
Delivery
- Table groups, kids work individually with talking
- Ask the question:
o What are all the ways to make ten?
 Give a minute, small group  whole group
o What are all the ways to make five?
 Give a minute, small group  whole group
o What are all the ways to make one?
 Hopefully they bring up yesterday’s number lines…
o Put piles of paper on each desk. Ask student to fold the paper into thirds.
 Allow them to fail, because they probably will a few times.
  As students start to solve, have them come up with a definition for “thirds”
 Small group  whole group when everyone has folded thirds
o Hold up one third with folded paper
 Explain that it is one third, it’s a third because three of them make one
whole sheet and you are holding one of them. – show them how to write
one third
 Pick up another folded third and say you have two thirds – show them how
to write it
 Pick up another, ask what you have, see if kids know how to write it.
o Hold up another third, (4) ask what you have 4/3 or 1 whole and 1/3  intro to
mixed and improper fractions
o You could do 2/3 + 2/3 by holding them up and having kids try to figure it out
o Go slowly and encourage discussion
o Task for students at tables
 Show me 17 thirds.
 Extension
 Is there an easy was to show 34/6?
Consolidation
- Have one group bring up their 17 thirds, but have them put down one third, so there are
16/3. Have the group count out their thirds to the class. Ask, “do they have enough?”
When the class says they need one more, grab a piece of paper, fold it in half and ask if
this works. You are looking for which kids don’t really see the difference between a half
and a third. Hopefully they correct you…
- Bring up fraction basics (a third is three equal parts of a whole, a fourth is four equal
parts of a whole, a fifth is…)
o This seems basic and may be basic to some students, but this is where a lot of
students are with fractions (meet them where they are)
- Have them write in their notes a definition of fractions (underneath the definition from
yesterday).
Day three – Fraction labelling
Goal
- Identify fractions and convert them to decimals
Subordinated tasks
- Halving and doubling
- Group work – getting the next question from other groups
Delivery
- Random groups of two or three, vertical surfaces. Tell students that you have all the
questions they’ll be working on today, but it’s going to be hard for you to get to
 everyone, so it is really important for them to try to get the “next question” by looking
around at other groups’ work. Encourage this, it’s always okay, it will save you a lot of
running
- Give each student a piece of paper and have them fold it in half. Ask what fraction is
shown, have them write it on the paper. Have them fold it in half again, label the fraction.
What if they folded it in half again. Have them, in their groups, find patterns in this.
- Draw a square on the board. Cut it in half, ask students what you have (half) and how do
they know this is half. When they explain it, label each half with 1/2
- Draw a square with quarters (the first blue pic shown below). Tell students their task is to
draw the square and label it, when they’re done, you’ll give them the next square or they
can get it from other groups

- The order is left side first (top to bottom) then right side (top to bottom)
- Before you give students the next fraction (which you can just draw on their board), make
them explain how they got the answers.
- Things to watch for:
o Are students labeling fractions properly?
 I’ve had kids try to label ¾ as “1/3, ¼”
o Are they seeing the patterns  cut a fraction in half, the denominator doubles

Extensions (or next day’s task)

- Start with ½ = 0.5
- Half of ½ is ¼, what is half of 0.5?
- Keep going with ¼, 1/8, 1/16, etc.
Consolidation
 - See which question each group got to, and decide if everyone got far enough. The first
time I did this with a class, everyone solved question 5. Some got further, but everyone
got there,
- Draw a square on the board and have the kids solve it in their notebooks. Use this to
assess what they have learned so far
Day Four – Play with decimals
Goal
- Add and subtract decimals (maybe multiply and divide)
Subordinated tasks
- Money counting
Delivery
- Individual work with talking, working at desks or vertical surfaces
- Start with a review of coin money, a lot of kids don’t really know names and values.
Show the coin, show how to write it in decimal form, give the name
o Nickel – 5 cents - $0.05
- Ask students to make $5.00 in five different ways using only coins. They have to keep
track of their work and show all their adding.
- This is pretty easy, but can be time consuming, let them work at their own pace.Most kids
will finish in 20 – 30 mins.
- Extension
o I reach into my pocket and I have $1.86. I count my coins and I have 12 of them.
What are my coins?
o What if I have $3.41 made with 9 coins?
o Keep making up questions like this with an amount of money and an amount of
coins.
Consolidation
- Ask kids for strategies that make adding decimals easy, have them write down strategies
they like.
- Have them write a note to future selves about how to add decimals, or question they
solved today that they are proud of – have them explain how they solved it.
Day five – Gattegno chart
Goal
- Visual representation of place value
Subordinated tasks
- Operations practice
Delivery
- Whole class, table groups  this is teacher-led so strive to keep discussion and thinking
happening
- This is a Gattegno chart

-
- Your goal is to create it, from scratch, with your students.
- Tell students that you are going to teach them to count using only 9 numbers. These are
the only nine numbers they will need to know.
- I usually start with five in the middle, point at it with a meter stick, then point one spot to
the right. Someone will say 6, write it down. Carry on this way until you have completed
1–9
- Tap on six, then move to the spot underneath it. Someone will say 16, they are wrong.
Write sixty. Point to six (kids say six) point to sixty (kids say 60). Do it a few times. Now
7 – 70, 8 – 80, 9 – 90
- Go to 4, tap underneath (4 – 40). Tell them the rest are said wrong. 10 should be 1-T, like
onety,(tap one, then under) twenty is two-ty, 30 is three-ty, fifty is 5-ty
- Next level, same numbers, but no “ty” we use hundreds, 100, 200, 300…
o Stop and have kids do some noticing.
- Next level, go to thousands
- Ten thousands
- Hundred thousands
- Millions
o Do more noticing
o Come up with some “rules”
 Challenge the rules, make sure they’re right
Day Six – Gattegno Chart
Delivery
- Open with a picture of yesterday’s chart, you could even have it recreated for the
students. Make sure you leave the top half of the board open though for decimals.
- Ask students what you would write if the chart went up instead of down (I had a kid say
negative numbers once).
- Remind them that they only need nine numbers
 o Start on 1 (tap with meter stick), tap above, someone will give you the answer,
write 0.1 and tell them 1 tenth. Go from 2 – 9 in the tenths spot.
 Check your rules from yesterday
 Hopefully someone brought up that going down a row is times 10,
going up is divide by 10.
o Start with 0.1, tap above, someone will tell you 1 hundredth,
 Ask kids if they notice anything.
 Check the rules with calculators
o Go up to thousandths
- Use chart paper to create a permanent Gattegno chart in your class.
Day Seven – Wyborney area tiles for decimals
Goal
- Provide a different visual for how decimals and fractions are parts of a whole
Subordinated tasks
- Adding and subtracting decimals
Delivery
- Table groups for discussion, individual whiteboards for work
- Show a Wyborney area tile picture on the board.

- Ask students, “how many squares are shown here, in decimals”

o As usual, let them talk about how they came up with the answer
- Direct attention to the 4 ¾ that surround the square in the center (even redraw it on
another part of the board). Point out that it is ¾ 4 times, or ¾ + ¾ + ¾ + ¾ or ¾ x 4
 - Another way of saying that is ¾ of 4.
o We’re trying to get kids to start thinking of multiplication with fractions
o Give students some simple multiplication questions like, 1/3 x 3
 Kids will need to wrap their heads around the idea of splitting 3 into
thirds, then figuring out how much is 1 of those thirds
o Watch how kids respond to this. If it is with full confusion, they are still
lacking the basic understanding of what a fraction is, or, the basic
understanding of what multiplication is. Use this to plan future small group
interventions with these kids
o Gradually increase the difficulty, staying with questions like 1/5 x 5, then 2/5 x 5,
1/5 x 10, 3/5 x 10
o If kids are able to do this with decimals, allow them to. They may have strategies
like doing normal multiplication and placing the decimal in the answer. This is
fine, encourage them to try to use that strategy to check their work.
Consolidation
- Have students share strategies for solving these types of questions and give examples of
their strategies on the board.
o If students really struggle with this, continue for the next day. Keep trying
different questions and different strategies.
Day Eight – Area with decimals
Goal
- More practice with decimal multiplication
Subordinated tasks
- Visual representation of multiplication and area
Delivery
- Random partners, each student with a personal whiteboard, Create decimal area questions
in powerpoint. You could post the questions in google class or print them and cut them
up so kids can work through at their own pace. Start with decimal x whole number, then
increase difficulty.
- Put a rectangle on the board, label L and W with whole numbers, ask class how to solve
for area (small group  whole group)
- Change the L and W to 0.5m and 3m
o Ask students how you would solve it now (small  whole)
- Work through the problem on your own, have students check your work.
- This is a typical practice day, circulate to see who is finding success and who is
struggling. If they are struggling, take note and adjust future lessons to work with them in
small groups.
Day Nine – Fraction Splat
Goal
- Another visual representation of fractions to build student understanding
Subordinated tasks
- Constructing and deconstructing numbers
Delivery
- Random partners, each student with a personal whiteboard, each partnership with a laptop
- Project a fraction splat on the board and ask students how many dots they see

-
o Assessment opportunity here – if they cannot differentiate between halves and
wholes here, take note, work with those kids closely today.
- Go through one splat question as a class, have kids explain how they got the answer
- Allow partners to work together at their own pace, explaining their thought process to
each other
- I usually put groups of splat on google classroom so kids can use the laptop to work
through at their own pace.
Consolidation
- Post a fraction splat on the board and have each kid solve it in their books, then explain
the thought process
Day Ten – decimals and ratios
Goal
- Tying decimals and ratios
Subordinated task
- Construct numbers with decimals
- Ratio refresher
- Collaborative problem solving
Delivery
- Random partners, vertical surfaces
- There are 3 questions to solve today. Each question follows a similar format: first tell
students the amount of money i have in my pocket and what coins it is made up of. After
they solve the first part of the problem, I give them a ratio of coins. I tried to just begin
with ratios and kids were very confused.
o Example:
 $1.80 made up of dimes and nickels
 “How many dimes and nickels might I have?”
o After a group has given me a few answers, I give them my ratio of dimes to
nickels (5d:2n)
- Next question
o $7.25 made up of quarters and nickels. 
o Ratio 5q:4n
- Next question
o $3.70 in quarters, dimes and nickels
o ratios 3q:5d and 1q:4n.
- These questions were easy to create. I started with a ratio of two types of coins
 ex: 3 dimes to 4 quarters
o Figure out what 3 dimes and four quarters makes (1.30)
o count by 1.30 until I hit a number I think will be challenging yet attainable for
kids
 5.20, or 6.50, for example.
Consolidation
- This is a tough problem, so spend time congratulating students on their hard work. Praise
specific solves, especially kids who surprised you. I had one boy who had struggled in
math all year because of confidence and he whizzed through these questions because he
was good at counting money. He didn’t understand ratios until he did this problem
because he understood money so well  this is the basis behind making explicit
connections in our math concepts.