© 2012 Creative Educational Concepts

© 2012 Creative Educational Concepts

Common Core State Standard

Students develop a unified understanding of number, recognizing fractions, decimals (that have a finite or a repeating decimal represen-

Mathematical Practices

1. Reason abstractly and quantitatively

2. Model with mathematics

3. Look for and express regularity in repeated rea-soning

4. Look for and make use of structure

5. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.

© 2012 Creative Educational Concepts

The Decimal and Fraction

Relationship Fractions and decimals can be converted between one another because they both represent a part of a whole. The whole that the decimal represents is the fraction grid and the whole that the fraction represents is determined by the denominator in the fraction.

Fractions are a more exact measure of a part to whole relation-ship because the whole is divided into equal parts. On the other hand decimals can be converted to fractions but when the de-nominator of the fraction is not a multiple of 100 then the frac-tions will repeat because it is broken down into smaller decimals, such as the ten thousandths.

When converting a fraction to a decimal the denominator di-vides the decimal grid. The numerator tells you how many deci-mals grids that you will need to divide the denominator into. For example, if you are converting two-fourths to decimal you will have 2 decimal grids and divide each decimal grid equally by 4. Since 100 is divisible by 4 the decimal will be a terminating deci-mal and there will be 8 groups of .25 but only 2 of the .25 will be shaded.

Terminating decimals are the easiest to teach conceptually; however if students have a good foundation of part to whole re-lationships then that understanding of the relationship and place value in decimals will anchor their understanding of re-peating decimals.

© 2012 Creative Educational Concepts

.20

.20

.20

..2

0

.20

Fifths

1. Before dividing the decimal grid into 5 equal parts remind the students that the denomina-tor is divided into the numerator and that the one decimal grid represents the numerator.

2. Divide the decimal grid into five equal parts each part represents .20. Fifths are terminat-ing decimals and can also be represented with dimes. Two dimes are one-fifth of a dollar. This can be demonstrated by placing two dimes in each section and then adding it up.

3. After the students grasp the concept of the money and the decimal grid introduce the pic-ture of the hand as a reminder of each part of the decimal grid.

© 2012 Creative Educational Concepts

.20

.40

.60

.80

1.00

The Fist of Five