Mathematics

Intermediate

50 mins

Teacher/Student led

Learning Goals

Learning Outcomes

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+80 XP

What you need:
IWB/Projector/Large Screen

Decimals to Thousandths

Extend your understanding of decimals to the third place (thousandths), learn how ten thousandths make one hundredth, and read and write decimals correctly using zero as a place-holder.

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1 Getting Started
2 Watch and Notice
3 Try It Together
4 Sketch the Columns in Your Copy
5 Class Challenge
6 What Did We Notice?
7 What's Next
Pupil practice

1 - Getting Started ~4 mins

Illustration for Getting Started Here is a number that looks tiny but has a real job to do: 0.001. Where would it sit on a number line? And why is it so small compared to numbers we usually write?

Take a good look before any hands go up.

Teacher Notes

Give five seconds of quiet think-time, then take three hands-up answers, not open call-outs. Listen for pupils reaching for "a thousandth" or "one out of a thousand" — revoice whichever answer names the size, not just the digits.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+5 XP

2 - Watch and Notice ~9 mins

We already know tenths and hundredths — today we go one step smaller, to thousandths, the third place. The flat is 1, the rod is 0.1, the small cube is 0.01, and the tiniest cube is 0.001. Watch each number build on the interactive and read the columns with me.

Teacher Notes

Relabel the blocks first: flat 1, rod 0.1, small cube 0.01, tiniest cube 0.001.

0.005 — five tiniest cubes, five thousandths. Point to the empty tenths and hundredths: nothing here, five in the last place.

0.034 — three hundredths and four thousandths. Before revealing the next, ask: bigger or smaller than five thousandths? Take predictions.

0.207 — two tenths, empty hundredths, seven thousandths. Key beat: press on the zero. Ask what would change if it disappeared (7 would slip into hundredths).

1.045 — read as "one and forty-five thousandths", not "one point oh four five". One whole, no tenths, four hundredths, five thousandths — pulls the day together.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+10 XP

3 - Try It Together ~11 mins

Now we build some ourselves. Today we work through these numbers together on the mat: 0.008, then 0.056, then 0.302, and finally 1.204. The zeros are the tricky part, so we'll say each column aloud before we add a block.

Build decimals to thousandths

Teacher Notes

This round is for talking it through together — pupils take turns at the board and the class agrees or corrects out loud.

0.008 — all in the last column; ask which columns stay empty and why we still don't write anything there.
0.056 — five hundredths, six thousandths; watch for pupils who put the 5 in tenths.
0.302 — the pause: three tenths, zero hundredths, two thousandths. Have the class say "zero hundredths" out loud before the block goes in the last column.
1.204 — a whole plus the same zero-hundredths pattern; revoice a strong answer as "the zero is holding the place so the 4 stays in thousandths."

+15 XP

4 - Sketch the Columns in Your Copy ~2 mins

COPYBOOK MOMENT

Illustration for Sketch the Columns in Your Copy In your maths copy, sketch the four decimal columns and label them U, t, h, th. Then write each of the lesson's decimals into the columns, one under the other. Underline the thousandths digit on each one.

Teacher Notes

Walk the room glancing at the column labels and the underlined thousandths digit — no marking, this is whole-class copybook practice. Catch anyone lining the digits up from the left instead of by column.

+10 XP

5 - Class Challenge ~8 mins

Time to read some numbers carefully. Together we'll build and check these on the mat: 0.003, then 0.027, then 0.105, then 1.008, and last of all 2.305. Each one is a little bigger, and the zeros are the ones that catch people out, so say the columns before you tap.

Read and build to thousandths

Teacher Notes

These are the practice questions — pupils take turns at the board, check each answer, and the class confirms before moving on. Keep the board work brisk rather than over-explaining.

0.003 — a gentle entry; everyone should get this.
0.105 — the first real trap: the zero in the hundredths column. Have the class predict which columns fill before the pupil taps.
1.008 — a whole plus thousandths with two empty columns between; the key one moment where the place-holder idea earns its keep.
2.305 — the ceiling: two wholes, three tenths, zero hundredths, five thousandths. Confirm the reading aloud before Check.

+15 XP

Pupil practice

Module 1 · Place Value and the Decimal Number System Number

Lesson 7 · Decimals to Thousandths

Download Activity Book page (PDF)

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Decimals to Thousandths

Teacher Class Feed

1 - Getting Started ~4 mins

2 - Watch and Notice ~9 mins

3 - Try It Together ~11 mins

Build decimals to thousandths

4 - Sketch the Columns in Your Copy ~2 mins

5 - Class Challenge ~8 mins

Read and build to thousandths

Unlock the full learning experience

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