We're going to practice reading and writing decimal numbers with this activity. First, gather your materials: a piece of cardboard, a black marker, a ruler, a pair of scissors, a tack, an old eraser, a piece of paper, and a pencil.
Draw a big circle on the cardboard. Cut out the circle with your scissors. Use the remaining cardboard to cut out an arrow. Color the arrow using your marker.
With your pencil, make 10 lines on the round cardboard using your ruler to guide you. Remember how pizzas are sliced? Make 10 "slices" in your cardboard, like this:
After drawing the lines, get your marker and start writing a number on each part of the circle. It should look like this:
Using the tack, pin the back of the arrow to the center of the cardboard. Hold the old eraser to the back of the circle so you won't hurt yourself when the sharp end of the tack comes out the back. Now you have your number wheel.
Finally, make a small table on your paper, like this:
Now we're all set! Here's what we do. Spin the arrow in the number wheel three times, writing the numbers in the table one by one. Let's say you get 3 on your first spin. Write "3" under the tenths place. Then you get 8 and 9 on your next spins. Write the numbers in the next columns.
This is how it would look:
Read the value. What is it? It's three hundred eighty-nine thousandths. How do you write it? It's .389.
Now it's your turn. Spin the arrow!
Ready to move on to the next lesson?
Reading Decimal Numbers
