Rachel Vos

Math 323

Professor Koop

November 2, 2017

Project 5: Read and Report on Journal Articles

1. The topic for my Teaching Experience 3 lessons is comparing and rounding decimals.

2. Beatriz S. D'Ambrosio, & Signe E. Kastberg. (2012). Building Understanding of Decimal

Fractions. Teaching Children Mathematics, 18(9), 558-564.

Linda B. Griffin. (2016). Tracking Decimal Misconceptions: Strategic Instructional Choices.

Teaching Children Mathematics, 22(8), 488-494.

3. In the article, “Tracking Decimal Misconceptions: Strategic Instructional Choices,” the authors

begin by addressing the fact that there are many misconceptions students have regarding

decimals. The decimal system is complex and requires a thorough understanding of place value.

However, the authors stress that these misconceptions are crucial in the classroom because

they can create powerful learning moments for students as their misunderstandings are

explored. As teachers, we should encourage student errors and conjectures because of the

learning opportunities they provide, while addressing their misconceptions to develop students’

understanding of the concepts.

The lesson explored in this article spans two days. On the first day, the teacher begins by asking

students to share what they already know about decimals. Following this, the students do a

whole-group activity, which involves creating a decimal racetrack. Students receive a pre-

marked number strip, which they divide into ten equal parts using some standard measurement

(not a ruler). Then, the students label each part with a decimal (from 0 to 1). The teacher then
asks the students to use fractions to describe particular tick marks on the strip. She then

explains the connection between fractions and decimals. The students then work in partners to

find and read decimal values. One partner points to a mark on the strip and the other students

reads the decimal value. Then, the partners switch. Students also play a Penny Pushing game, in

which they push pennies along the racetrack and have to say the decimal where the penny

lands. At the end of day 1, the teacher debriefs with the students and addresses the

misconception that the numbers used in a fraction are the same as the numbers used in the

decimal equivalent.

On the second day, the teacher begins by reviewing the exit ticket from the previous day, in

which she asked students what decimal would come in the middle of 1.3 and 1.4. She writes

down all the answers, but does not answer the question. The students begin whole group work

by dividing their racetracks from the day before into hundredths. They use the same standard

measuring device from the day before (a small post-it note) and divide each one into ten equal

parts. Then, the students are able to decide which option is the correct notation for the decimal

in the middle of 1.3 and 1.4. Students label all the tick marks for the hundredths places. Then,

the teacher addresses how 1.39 can be smaller than 1.4. Students then work in partners to find

and name hundredths values in the same way they did on day 1. Finally, the teacher debriefs

with the students and continues to address the misconception that longer decimals are smaller.

In later lessons, the teacher continues to expand students’ understanding using additional

manipulatives. However, the racetrack model is one that students are continuously able to refer

back to in order to correct misunderstandings.

In the article, “Building Understanding of Decimal Fractions,” the authors worked with

preservice teachers to check their understanding of decimal ordering. They found that asking
the students to order six different decimals made of similar numbers was challenging. Many

students ordered the numbers by the length of the decimals, showing that the longest decimals

were either the longest or shortest. Others ordered the decimals as if all the numerals were

whole numbers. In order to dig deeper into their misunderstandings, the authors wanted to

pose a task that would give them more insight on the understanding the students had of

decimals. The authors gave the students decimal grids. Not all the students were familiar with

these grids, but they were able to use them successfully when the grids were subdivided into

the same number of parts as the students needed to count. However, the students had difficulty

when they had to use the hundredths grids to count thousandths or ten-thousandths.

These decimal grids are often used in upper elementary classrooms as ways of visually

representing decimals and the fractions they are equivalent to. After asking the students to use

the decimal grids, the authors asked the students to explain their work. One student discussed

how he shaded in parts of the grid to represent the decimal. However, he struggled when he

had to shade thousandths and differentiate between two similar decimals. Another student

discussed how she subdivided the entire grid first, and shaded blocks after. She also struggled

with longer decimals that did not fit the grid. A third student used a much different method. She

turned the decimals into fractions and broke them up into their place value parts (i.e. tenths,

hundredths, thousandths, etc.) Then, she shaded the grid piece by piece looking at the fractions

added up to make the whole. The last student looked at the grids and how they were related.

She did not use a whole grid for her explanation, but used only the parts she needed from each

place value.

From looking at these four students and their work with decimals and grids, the authors decided

on three major sources of difficulty in working with decimals. First, they noticed that

understanding the relationships between subdivisions of the whole was crucial for students to
successfully work with decimals. Second, they noticed that many students do not understand

the additive nature of decimal places. Finally, they noted that use of procedures can mask our

knowledge of how well students truly understand a concept. After looking at these sources of

difficulty, the authors made three modifications to their work with decimal grids. They focused

only on one grid at a time and had students use only that grid to show certain quantities.

Second, they placed more emphasis on the additive nature of decimal places. Finally, they

identified several follow up tasks to help students build relationships between and among

subdivisions of decimals.