Tenths

Write a Tenth. To launch Question 1 in the Student Guide, show the skinnies and meterstick you prepared. In Question 1, students are asked what fraction of the length of a meterstick is 1 skinny.

In Questions 2–3, students continue to explore decimals using skinnies and a meterstick. In Question 3, students place 5 skinnies along the meterstick. This represents five-tenths of a meter. Students express this fraction as a common fraction in two different ways. They should recognize that 5/10 is half of the meterstick, so it can also be written 1/2.

Measure and Compare in Meters and Skinnies. Student pairs complete Questions 4–10 in which they practice writing, comparing, and ordering decimals to the nearest tenth. In Question 4, students practice writing decimal fractions for combinations of metersticks and skinnies (tenths of a meter). Students then compare decimal fractions using the meterstick or number line model in Questions 5–9.

In Question 10, students choose five distances to measure, compare, and order from shortest to longest.

As students are working, ask questions to check and clarify understanding.