In this activity, students shade diagrams to represent fractions and decimals to the thousandths place. The first problem reviews IM Grade 4 work in which students filled in the same diagrams to show decimal fractions and decimals to hundredths. After this review, the problems all involve thousandths. First, students interpret how much of a square is shaded and then they shade a part of a square to represent a three-digit decimal. Because the thousandths are so small, students may struggle to count the shaded thousandths and may disagree about how many thousandths are shaded in the diagrams.
Monitor for students who interpret and draw diagrams of decimals by thinking about each individual digit in a number. For example, in order to show 0.327 in a diagram, students can think of this as:
- 3 tenths
- 2 hundredths
- 7 thousandths
When shading the thousandths and naming them, students must be precise and pay close attention to what they decide to shade (MP6).
MLR2 Collect and Display. Circulate to listen for and collect the language students use as they shade and interpret diagrams. On a visible display, record words and phrases such as: “fracción”, “parte de”, “decimal”, “décimas”, “fila”, “centésimas”, “milésimas”, “representa”, “muestra” // “fraction,” “part of,” “decimal,” “tenths,” “row,” “hundredths,” “thousandths,” “represents,” “shows.” Invite students to borrow language from the display as needed, and update it throughout the lesson.
Advances: Conversing, Reading
Engagement: Develop Effort and Persistence. Differentiate the degree of difficulty or complexity. Some students may benefit from starting with representing smaller values on the grid. For example, represent one thousandth or two thousandths on the grid.
Supports accessibility for: Conceptual Processing, Attention
