Decimals Teaching Resources
Browse decimal worksheets, math center activities, engaging games and more fun ways to bring this concept to life in your elementary classroom.
This teaching resource collection was created by the teachers on the Teach Starter team and includes activities to help students learn to convert fractions into decimals and vice versa, as well as printables that will help them learn how to read and write decimals using place value and the decimal point, how to round decimals and more!
Build students' understanding of using decimals in money and measurement with curriculum-aligned teaching resources so you can meet Common Core and state standards.
New to this concept in the math classroom, or just looking for some fresh ideas for teaching about decimals? Explore a primer from the teachers on the Teach Starter team!
What Are Decimals? A Kid-Friendly Definition
Explaining decimals to your class? Here's a kid-friendly definition that will help!
A decimal is a special way to write parts of a whole number. Decimals are a lot like fractions, but instead of using numbers like 1/2 or 1/4, we use a dot called a decimal point to separate the whole number part from the part that is less than one.
The number before the decimal tells you how many wholes you have, and the digits after the decimal point tell you how many groups of one-tenth, one-hundredth or one-thousandth you have.
One of the most common places students will encounter decimals in real life is when using money — the dollar is a whole number, while cents are a part of the whole and are typically represented beyond a decimal point.
How Do You Turn a Decimal Into a Fraction and Vice Versa?
Turning decimals into fractions and doing the reverse are both important skills for students to develop. Here are simple processes for doing just that!
How to Turn a Decimal Into a Fraction
- Write down the digits in the decimal over its place value.
- For example, if you have the decimal 0.75 (seventy-five hundredths), you would write it as 75/100.
- Simplify the fraction by finding the greatest common factor (GCF) of the numerator and denominator and dividing both by it.
- In the example above, the GCF of 75 and 100 is 25, so dividing both by 25 gives you the simplified fraction 3/4. This means 0.75 as a fraction is 3/4.
How to Turn a Fraction Into a Decimal
To turn a fraction into a decimal, your students will need to divide the numerator (top number) by the denominator (bottom number).
- Divide the numerator by the denominator.
- If the numerator does not divide evenly by the denominator, add zeroes to the dividend to continue the division to as many decimal places as needed or desired. Don't forget to add a decimal point after the digit found in the denominator!
- Round the decimal to the desired number of decimal places, if necessary.
How Do You Round Decimals?
Another skill students need to learn is the process of rounding decimals to the nearest whole number or to a specific decimal place. This will allow them to simplify numbers, making them easier to work with! This comes in handy when doing things such as rounding to the nearest dollar amount when working with money.
Rounding can also be used to get a general sense of a number without worrying about the exact value, which can be helpful in certain situations, such as estimating a budget or measurement.
To round a decimal to the nearest whole number, you need to look at the digit to the right of the decimal point.
- If that digit is 5 or greater, you round up to the next whole number.
- If that digit is 4 or less, you round down to the current whole number.
For example, let's say you want to round the decimal 3.7 to the nearest whole number. The digit to the right of the decimal point is 7, which is 5 or greater, so you round up to 4.
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Adding and Subtracting Decimals – Dominoes
Use this game of dominoes to strengthen computation skills by adding and subtracting decimals through the thousandths place.
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Decimals on Number Lines - Math Game
Review how to identify and place decimals on a number line with a set of printable math games.
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Lost in Decimal Woods - Decimal Number Line Interactive
Recognize and analyze decimals on a number line with an exciting self-checking interactive game.
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Decimals on a Number Line (Tenths and Hundredths) Slide Deck
Teach your students how to identify, order, and label decimals on a number line with an interactive teaching presentation.
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Fraction Representations Posters - Whole, Halves, Thirds, Fourths, and Fifths
A set of posters showing the different representations of benchmark fractions.
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Ordering Decimals Worksheet - Number Lines
Practice ordering decimals on a number line with this worksheet.
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Decimals on Number Lines - Codebreaker Worksheets
Crack the number line code with worksheets practicing identification, addition, and subtraction of decimal numbers.
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Adding and Subtracting Decimals - Worksheets
Introduce adding and subtracting decimals using a number line with a decimal operations worksheet.
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Decimals on Number Lines - Task Cards
Sharpen your students’ abilities to identify decimals on a number line with a set of task cards.
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Decimals on a Number Line - Poster
Help your students visualize and identify decimals on a number line with a printable decimal number line anchor chart.
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Fractions, Decimals, and Percents Tarsia Puzzle
Practice converting and matching fractions, decimals, and percentages with a fun tarsia puzzle.
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What's That Decimal? - Number Line Mystery Reveal
Sharpen numeracy skills by identifying decimals on a number line with an interactive mystery picture reveal.
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Diving Into Decimals – Google Slides Interactive Activity
Use this interactive activity to take a deep dive into decimals while improving skills with decimal operations and place value concepts.
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Adding and Subtracting Decimals – Small Group Bingo
Review how to add and subtract decimals with a small group bingo game!
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Decimal War Board Game
Compare decimals by means of numerals, words and Base 10 block representations with this printable board game.
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Adding and Subtracting Decimals Word Problems Worksheet
Practice solving word problems by adding and subtracting decimals to the thousandths place with this worksheet.
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Dividing with Decimals – Word Problem Task Cards
Sharpen decimal division skills while solving a variety of word problems with this set of 24 task cards.
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Comparing Decimals – Color by Number Worksheet
Compare decimals and create a beautiful stained-glass picture with this color-by-number worksheet.
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Comparing Decimals Interactive Activity
Get your students comparing decimals with this self-checking interactive activity.
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Subtracting Decimals with Base-Ten Blocks – Board Game
Use this board game to encourage friendly competition while practicing how to subtract decimals with visual models.
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Decimal Subtraction with Base-Ten Blocks — Differentiated 5th Grade Worksheets
Use these worksheets when teaching your students how to model subtracting decimals with base-10 blocks.
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Rounding Decimals Bingo
Review how to round decimals to the nearest whole, tenth, and hundredth with a whole-class bingo game.
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Dividing Decimals Bingo
Master the ability to divide with decimals by playing a whole-class bingo game.
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Converting Fractions and Decimals Match-Up Activity
Have students practice how to convert a fraction to a decimal with this match-up activity perfect for math rotations.
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Rounding Decimals - I Have, Who Has? Game
Review how to round decimals with an exciting I Have, Who Has? game.
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Rounding Decimals – Bump! Games
Review how to round decimals with this set of printable math games.
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Dividing Decimals Match-Up Activity
Divide decimals and find the correct quotient with this match-up activity.
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Decimal Operations Math Mats
Get students reviewing decimal operations with these engaging, puzzle-based math mats.
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Decimal Patterns – Math Mazes
Find your way through this set of math mazes by determining the addition or subtraction pattern in a sequence of decimal numbers.
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Rounding Decimals – Task Cards
Round decimals to the nearest hundredth with this set of 24 task cards.
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Rounding Decimals With Visual Models – Task Cards
Use these task cards to round decimals to the nearest tenth or hundredth and match each value with a corresponding decimal model.
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I Have, Who Has? Game – Fraction, Decimal and Percentage Equivalence
Reinforce students' understanding of fraction, decimal and percentage equivalence with a whole-class game.