"I finally feel good at Math!"

 "I finally feel good at Math!" 

"Wow! I never thought I would be able to do this!"

"This is so easy for me!"

These are all phrases that were said during our Math class today, and all were said by students that lack confidence in Math! Man, did it feel good to hear these words out of kids that have felt confused about decimals so far in this unit. 

Today we started adding and subtracting decimals using the CRA (concrete-representational-abstract) model. We have been working SO HARD on number sense in 5th grade Math so far and have been using our place value charts to help us. The kids have gained a sense of comfort in using the place value chart and it has helped tremendously!

We started adding decimals by first building the numbers using manipulatives on the place value chart as seen below. This is a HANDS ON way for the kids to show their mathematical thinking. EVERY child in the classroom was able to successfully add decimals using this method! 

Then we used drawings to represent the decimal numbers on the place value chart as seen below. The kids were able to take their understanding of manipulatives and apply it to this strategy as well. Check out that REGROUPING. It just MAKES SENSE to them when they see it this way. They know that they cannot have a digit larger than 9 in each place value, so they have to regroup!

Once the kids were able to successfully represent the addition of decimals using these two strategies, we then practiced adding decimals using the standard algorithm. It was awesome to hear the kids say, "Oh, that's why we carry the one, we have to regroup!" 

It is incredibly important for kids to understand the WHY behind the Math they are doing. This CRA model helps us explain why we "carry the one" in the standard algorithm. We are going to carry this SAME strategy into subtracting decimal numbers tomorrow and I cannot wait to see what they think about DECOMPOSING the numbers!