Decimal Fractions

Hi Ellie,

I was SO happy to hear your good news!! You've been working really hard and it shows -- way to go!! I'm SO proud of you!

Now we're working on "decimal fractions." Decimal fractions are fractions that have denominators of 10, 100, 1000, 10 000, etc. In "mathspeak" we say "the denominators are powers of 10." This is also a review of "place value."

Use the math dictionaries in the links list over there --> to look up the words:

• decimal fraction


• place value

Add these words to Ellie's Math Dictionary and copy the definitions that you found.

Lots of people don't know this: You know we use this symbol for division: ÷ Do you know why?

It's to remind us that a division question is the same thing as a fraction. For example, means 1 ÷ 4. The dot on top is a "place holder" for the 1 and the dot on the bottom is a "place holder" for the 4. So 1 ÷ 2 means and means 1 ÷ 2.

One way to turn a fraction into a decimal is to rewrite it as a division problem. There are certain fractions you should be so familiar with that you can write them as decimals without even thinking about it. This takes some memorization and practice. Here are a few games to help you remember ...

• Flashcard Practice


• Decimal - Fraction Matching Game


• Fraction & Decimal Concentration


• More Matching


• More Concentration


• Decimal Switch (if you figure out the fractions out of 100 first, this will be easier to do ;-))

Let me know if any of them are too hard or confusing and we'll find some that work better for you.

Love ya!