Demonstrate Place-Value Mastery

Overview

In this final lesson of Place-Value Power Moves, students review and demonstrate how digit values change as digits move across a place-value chart. They connect 10-times and 1/10 relationships to decimal places, comparisons, and multiplication or division by 10.

Learning intentions

• Students will be able to identify the value of a digit in a multi-digit number.
• Students will be able to explain how a digit’s value changes when it moves one place left or right.
• Students will be able to compare decimals and solve multiplication or division by 10.
• Students will be able to explain one place-value relationship using words, a chart, pointing, or a sentence frame.

Success criteria

• I can identify a digit’s value in a whole number or decimal.
• I can show that moving one place left makes a digit’s value 10 times greater.
• I can show that moving one place right makes a digit’s value 1/10 as great.
• I can solve the review questions with at least 80% accuracy and explain one relationship.

Curriculum links

• Number and Operations in Base Ten — recognize that a digit’s value is 10 times the value in the place to its right and 1/10 the value in the place to its left.
• Number and Operations in Base Ten — read and write decimals through thousandths in standard, word, and expanded form.
• Number and Operations in Base Ten — compare decimals through thousandths using greater than, equal to, and less than symbols.
• Number and Operations in Base Ten — explain patterns when multiplying or dividing by powers of 10.

Lesson structure (30 minutes)

1. 0–3 min · Vocabulary review. Open with the vocabulary review slide and briefly review digit, value, tenths, hundredths, 10 times, and 1/10. Students turn and talk to complete: “The value of a digit is ___” and show thumbs-up when they hear a correct use of a term.

2. 3–7 min · Teacher model. Use the place-value movement model to display a place-value chart and model 700 → 70 → 7 → 0.7. Explain that moving right divides the value by 10, while moving left multiplies the value by 10; connect each number to the position of the digit 7. Students track the movement with a finger, then answer: “How is 70 related to 700?” and “How is 0.7 related to 7?”

3. 7–15 min · We Do matching game. Display the matching-game directions and place students in six groups of three. Give each group teacher-prepared cards showing numbers, digit values, place names, and relationship statements. Students match related cards, such as 4 in the ones place, value 4; 4 in the tenths place, value 0.4; and “0.4 is 1/10 of 4.” Pause halfway for groups to justify one match using the sentence frame: “The digit ___ moved ___, so its value became ___.”

4. 15–27 min · Individual assessment. Distribute the place-value mastery assessment and display the assessment directions. Students independently complete items identifying digit values, reading or writing a decimal, comparing two decimals, multiplying or dividing by 10, and explaining one 10-times or 1/10 relationship. Read directions aloud, clarify vocabulary without solving items, and provide extended wait time. Circulate and note whether students use place value accurately or rely on incorrect “move the decimal” rules.

5. 27–30 min · Self-assessment and feedback. Show the reflection and feedback slide. Students mark one statement: “I can do this independently,” “I can do this with a chart,” or “I need more practice.” They complete the oral or written prompt: “When a digit moves one place to the ___, its value becomes ___.” Invite two students to share different response modes and collect the assessment.

Resources

• the Place-Value Power Moves review deck
• the place-value mastery assessment
• Teacher-prepared place-value matching cards
• Place-value charts through thousandths
• Base-ten blocks or decimal grids
• Pencils and highlighters
• Optional multiplication and division by 10 reference chart
• Timer

Assessment

• During modeling and matching, check whether students can distinguish a digit from its value and explain left/right movement.
• Review the independent assessment for at least 80% accuracy across digit values, comparisons, and multiplication or division by 10. Score the explanation for a correct relationship, even when the response is oral, drawn, pointed to on a chart, or dictated.
• Use the final self-assessment and teacher observations to group students for reteaching or further practice.

Differentiation

• Provide a place-value reference chart, base-ten manipulatives, highlighted key digits, repeated directions, sentence frames, extended wait time, and teacher prompting. Reduce the number of assessment items or enlarge them when needed.
• Offer read-aloud support, oral administration, text-to-speech when available, and alternate response modes such as pointing, drawing arrows on a chart, speaking, or dictating to a scribe.
• Use uncluttered assessment pages with large readable type, extra spacing, and one question at a time for students with dyslexia or visual-processing needs. Avoid unnecessary decorative elements and emphasize only the relevant digit.
• For multilingual learners, pair spoken explanations with gestures and labeled charts. Preteach vocabulary with examples and accept a brief response using the frame: “___ is 10 times as much as ___ because it moved one place ___.”

Extension

• Students design a place-value matching challenge with at least six cards, including a 10-times relationship and a 1/10 relationship, then provide a correct answer key.
• Students write a real-world problem requiring both multiplication by 10 and division by 10, solve it, and explain how the place value changes.