Skills Covered

How to Use This Pack

Nine lesson plans, one for each lesson of the sixth unit of 5th grade, multiplying and dividing decimals, in teaching order, after an overview page that lays the unit out day by day: a pre-check, the nine lessons, a review and the unit test. Each plan fits on one page. It gives the goal, what to get ready, the words to use, the lesson in five steps with the words to say, questions to ask, common mistakes and what to do about them, and the Animal Math worksheets, makers, tools and quiz for the lesson.

In the Classroom

Print the unit, or just the day's page, and teach from it. Each lesson takes about 45 minutes: a 5 minute warm up, 10 minutes of teaching, 10 minutes together, 15 minutes of practice and an exit ticket at the end. Models come first (strips, grids and base-ten blocks), then the column and long division work, with an estimate before every problem so the point lands in the right place. Lesson 6.5, times and divided by 0.1 and 0.01, is taught in 5th grade in Florida; skip it if your class does not learn it. The exit tickets, pre-check, review and unit test are separate packs, made for these lessons, and the plans teach with other numbers than they use.

At Home

Teaching at home? Use the warm up and the "Try it together" step as a short lesson, and the "Words to use" as the way to talk about it. Coins, receipts and a tape measure make good decimal problems, and the mistakes to watch for are the ones most children make.

Tips for Success

• Read the "Watch for" box before the lesson: it is what to listen for while students work
• Ask "about how big should the answer be?" before every problem
• Say decimals by their place while learning: 0.24 is "24 hundredths"
• Sort the exit tickets into got it, almost and not yet to plan the next day
• Use the help and challenge ideas for small groups during practice