Decimals - Tenths and Hundredths - Planning

In this Year 4 mathematics lesson, students delve into the world of decimals, focusing specifically on tenths and hundredths. The lesson utilises various resources, including worksheets, presentations, hundred squares, and Base 10 blocks, to facilitate a hands-on learning experience. Key vocabulary such as 'hundred square', 'tenths', and 'hundredths', as well as 'columns' and 'rows', are introduced, with additional support available through vocabulary cards and definitions. The lesson begins with a review of prior knowledge, where students recall how to identify tenths and hundredths using a hundred square. The use of Base 10 blocks aids in visualising the concept that ten hundredths make up one tenth, and students are encouraged to think about the equivalence between these two fractions.

During the class, children engage in a series of activities designed to deepen their understanding of tenths and hundredths. The first activity prompts them to consider each square of the hundred square as 1/100 and to explore the representation of tenths through rows and columns. In the second activity, students fill in a table based on the number of shaded rows and columns, expressing these quantities in tenths and hundredths. The third activity introduces the part-whole model, challenging students to partition numbers such as 56 hundredths into tenths and hundredths through guided questions. Reasoning tasks further develop critical thinking as students assess statements about the relationship between tenths and hundredths and explore different ways to partition these fractions. The lesson concludes with independent work on differentiated worksheets, allowing for varied levels of depth in understanding, from recognising numerical order to explaining the concepts in their own words. Common misconceptions are addressed, such as the difficulty in visualising that ten tenths equal a whole and that one hundred hundredths also make a whole.