Comparing Decimals- Justifying and Explaining


Being able to clearly communicate reasoning is an essential skill for today's students.  One of the ways your students can develop that skill is by drawing and writing to explain and justify their responses.  It's super important for kids to be able to verbalize their thinking, as well as to be able to communicate that thinking through written words and visual models.






This page can be given as an assessment or even a homework assignment.  


Differentiation ideas:
-If your students need a little more support, have them work with a partner and orally explain their ideas before putting them in print, or model thinking out loud and drawing/ writing an example.
-If your students need a challenge, give them harder decimals to work with, or have them explain a more complicated comparison (such as why 0.1 is greater than 0.099).



(example answer- this page is not included)


I like to have my students justify their reasoning on paper at least once each week.  They use both visual models as well as written explanations.  This kind of thinking also helps students with test prep, but that's not why we do it!


Happy Teaching (and Justifying Reasoning)!!



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