Decimals and Percentages - Order and Compare - Planning

The Year 5 maths lesson on 'Order and Compare' delves into the world of decimals and percentages, guiding students through the process of arranging and contrasting numbers with up to three decimal places. The lesson employs a variety of resources, including worksheets and a presentation, to reinforce key vocabulary such as 'decimal', 'compare', 'order', 'ascending', 'descending', and terms related to place value like 'ones', 'tenths', 'hundredths', and 'thousandths'. The class begins with a short review of previous work before moving on to the first activity. This involves comparing pairs of decimal numbers by aligning them in place value columns and determining which is greater or lesser using symbols like <, >, or =. Through this method, students learn to scrutinize each column from left to right to discern the magnitude of the numbers.

Subsequent activities build on this foundation, as students are tasked with arranging decimal numbers on a number line and ordering sets of decimal figures in descending order. They are encouraged to engage in partner discussions to explore different strategies for comparing the numbers and to use number lines as visual aids. The lesson is structured to accommodate various levels of understanding, providing differentiated fluency and reasoning worksheets to ensure that all students, whether they are working towards the expected level or aiming for greater depth, can develop their skills effectively. The session concludes with a plenary where shared answers help to clear up any misunderstandings, and students reflect on what they've learned, the skills they've used, and the strategies that aided them, ensuring they remember the key points of the lesson.