Tenths, the First Decimal Place

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1 Getting Started
2 Watch and Notice
3 Try It Together
4 Draw and Shade 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 one-metre strip of paper, split into ten equal parts, the way a baker might mark a long loaf into ten fair slices.

We have a name for one whole and we have a name for one half. But what shall we call just one of these ten equal parts of the whole strip?

Teacher Notes

Hold up (or display) a metre strip already ruled into ten equal parts. Take three hands-up answers, not open call-outs. Do not name the answer yet — the naming happens in Watch and Notice. Give five seconds of quiet think-time first.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+5 XP

2 - Watch and Notice ~10 mins

This is the same whole loaf as our paper strip, now shown as ten equal sticks on a place-value mat. Watch which sticks are shaded each time, and read the amount both as tenths and as a decimal.

Teacher Notes

Same whole as the paper strip; ten equal parts. Take each reveal one at a time and have two pupils read the amount aloud in both names before moving on.

0.1: one stick of ten shaded, one tenth. Stress the parts are equal, that is what makes a tenth. Point out the 0 in the ones place, the point, the 1 in the new tenths place.

0.3: three sticks shaded, three tenths. Pause here and ask how many sticks show one half; take two hands before revealing.

0.5: five sticks shaded, five tenths, exactly one half. This is the key beat for outcome 4. Ask two pupils to say five tenths, one half, zero point five.

0.7: seven sticks shaded, seven tenths. Point holds its position; only the tenths digit changes as more shade in.

Do not proceed until the class can read 0.1, 0.3, 0.5 and 0.7 as tenths and say that 0.5 is one half.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+10 XP

3 - Try It Together ~10 mins

Now we build tenths together on the place-value mat, in this order: 0.2, then 0.5, then 0.8, and finally 0.9. For each one, one pupil taps the sticks at the board while the whole class joins in by saying the two names aloud together: first the words, like two tenths, then the decimal, zero point two.

Watch out

The one to watch is 0.5 — that is exactly half of the whole, so one half and five tenths are the same amount.

Build the tenths

Teacher Notes

This round is for talking it through together — a pupil taps at the board and the whole class says both names aloud, agreeing or correcting out loud.

This is the longest step, so give at least four different pupils a turn at the board (one per number), and keep any single turn under about five minutes. Call each number; a pupil comes to the mat and shades that many tenths. The class says both names: "two tenths, zero point two."

On 0.5, pause: "five of the ten shaded is exactly half the strip." Revoice any pupil who spots that one half = 0.5.
Watch for pupils who read 0.2 as "nought point twenty" — steer them to "two tenths."

+15 XP

4 - Draw and Shade in Your Copy ~3 mins

COPYBOOK MOMENT

In your maths copy, draw a bar and split it into ten equal parts. Shade four of the parts.

Underneath your bar, write the amount two ways: as four tenths and as 0.4.

Teacher Notes

Walk the room glancing for ten roughly-equal parts and the point written in the right place (0.4, not 4.0) — this is whole-class copybook practice, not marking.

+10 XP

5 - Class Challenge ~8 mins

Key point

Today we work through these tenths, one after another: 0.1, then 0.3, then 0.7, and finally 0.9. Each one adds more shaded sticks, so watch how the tenths digit climbs while the point stays exactly where it is.

Make the tenths

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.

Have the class predict the number of shaded sticks before each pupil taps.
Use the Check tick as part of your narration: "yes — seven tenths, that's it."
Fast finishers watching the board can mouth the next number quietly; they do not need a parallel desk task.

+15 XP

Pupil practice

Module 3 · Fractions and First Decimals Number

Lesson 39 · Tenths, the First Decimal Place

Download Activity Book page (PDF)

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This lesson is copyright of Coding Ireland 2017 - 2025. Unauthorised use, copying or distribution is not allowed.

Teacher Class Feed

1 - Getting Started ~4 mins

2 - Watch and Notice ~10 mins

3 - Try It Together ~10 mins

Build the tenths

4 - Draw and Shade in Your Copy ~3 mins

5 - Class Challenge ~8 mins

Make the tenths

Unlock the full learning experience

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