602.4.15-31 Eft4

602.4.15-31 EFT4

Prerequisites that 5th graders should have before learning about rounding mixed decimals to the nearest tenth is knowledge in addition and subtraction, fractions, and how they are written symbolically. Mainly, 5th graders should already know how to round whole numbers, which will help them in rounding mixed decimals.

I will teach students place value and use everyday experiences when demonstrating. Students will relate easier to their own experiences and this should give them a better understanding that using decimals and rounding is something we do more often than we realize. Before we round mixed decimals to the nearest tenth, we will do a review on rounding whole numbers. In doing this the students will grasp the concept of different place values for decimals, and learn all the place values that are to the right of the decimal. Students will also learn that rounding a decimal is a means of estimating its value while using fewer digits.

I will have random numbers on the blackboard. For example, 1284 and ask the students to read the number to me out loud. We will then review the place value of each number. 1 = thousand, 2 = hundreds, 8 = tens and 4 = ones. Well, what if we changed the number a bit, to 1284.42. What would the place value of 42 be? This is where I would tell my students that we do not start counting off to the right of the decimal with ones, instead it’s the tenths. It’s - decimal point, tenths, hundredths, thousands, ten thousands, but for now, we only need focus on the tenths. I will remind them of the round up/round down rule that we learned earlier when rounding whole numbers. The class can always refer to the chart on the board for place value reminder.

I would then do some exercises providing the students with a list of numbers telling them that we’re buying various items from an electronics store. They need to bring the total of each item to the nearest tenth. They will now use round up if it’s...