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LESSON PLAN

Fractions, Decimals, and Their Operations

A
Apothem Team
Grade 4 · Number
LESSON AT A GLANCE
Warm-up
5 min
Explore
15 min
Consolidate
10 min
Practice
12 min
Exit ticket
3 min

Warm-up

Show $3.47 in coins and bills. What does the 4 represent? (4 dimes = 4 tenths of a dollar.) The 7? (7 pennies = 7 hundredths.) Write: 3.47 = 3 + 4/10 + 7/100. Now write it as a fraction: 347/100. These are all the same number.

Explore

Decimal comparison pairs: given pairs of fractions and decimals (e.g., 0.7 and 3/4; 0.45 and 1/2), students place both on a 0-to-1 number line and determine which is greater. The number line makes the comparison visual and avoids mechanical conversion.

Consolidate

Practice

Students convert 6 decimals to fractions and vice versa, place 8 fractions on a 0-1 number line, and solve 4 decimal addition and subtraction problems. Exit ticket: is 0.8 greater or less than 3/4?

Exit ticket

Students convert 6 decimals to fractions and vice versa, place 8 fractions on a 0-1 number line, and solve 4 decimal addition and subtraction problems. Exit ticket: is 0.8 greater or less than 3/4?

TIP  Use the reassigned base-ten block model consistently. When the flat = 1 whole, a rod = 0.1 and a small cube = 0.01. This keeps the proportional relationships intact and familiar.
WORKED EXAMPLES
Write 0.63 as a fraction and in expanded form.

0.63 = 63/100. Expanded: 6/10 + 3/100, or 0.6 + 0.03. In money: 63 cents.

Add 3.75 + 2.48.

Ones: 3+2=5. Tenths: 7+4=11, write 1, carry 1. Hundreds: 5+8=13, write 3, carry 1. So: 6.23. Check: estimate 4+2=6, answer 6.23 is close.

MATERIALS
Base-ten blocks reassigned as decimal models
Decimal place value mats
Grid paper (100-square grids for hundredths)
Number lines 0-1 marked in tenths and hundredths
Money (coins and bills) for real-world context
WATCH FOR
!Students may add decimals without aligning the decimal point: 3.75+2.48 becomes 3.75+2480 if misaligned. Always write the decimal point first, then fill in digits.
!Students may think 0.7 > 0.70 or 0.7 < 0.07. Use the base-ten block model: 7 rods (0.70) > 0 rods and 7 cubes (0.07).