Multiplying With Decimals: How I Do It & 3 Amazing Math Center Activities

Are your students learning all about multiplying with decimals? Click here to download this step-by-step guide to decimal multiplication freebie! 

How I Teach Multiplying With Decimals in the Fifth Grade Classroom

Multiplying with decimals is an important skill for students to master in fifth grade. Not only do the common core standards list this as one of the skills students should know and be able to do by the end of the year, but multiplying with decimals is an important skill to understand in real life, too. Imagine you are at the grocery store with a set amount of money (and no calculator). Time to put your skills to the test and multiply with decimals. You weigh your vegetables and find out that they are 1.5 pounds. You check the price – those particular vegetables are $1.50 per pound. Now, you need to know if you have enough money to cover the cost of your delicious food. Multiplying these two numbers together will give you the total cost of your 1.5 pounds of precious produce (you’d be spending $2.25). Students need to understand the how and the why in math – I find that it is much more meaningful to my own students when I can relate the concepts to their lives, rather than leaving it as an abstract concept that they “have to learn.” I love making math as easy as possible for students and I do this by activating their background knowledge, breaking down each mathematical process into easy-to-understand steps, and providing fun and engaging practice so that students can master the skill.

Multiplying with Decimals: A How-To Guide 

When getting ready to teach this concept of multiplying with decimals, I usually find many students who are unsure and worried about learning this new skill. It can look so intimidating – decimals, multiplication, digits to the thousandths, decimal placement in the answer – there are many reasons for students to “panic” at first glance. I always reassure them that once we learn the steps to take to solve decimal multiplication equations, the “scary” can become “simple.” Of course, all students are different and are at different levels with each math skill we encounter, so the amount of pre-teaching, practice, and guidance needed varies, but  I am always looking for ways to take this “scary” go away. The most tried and true way that I’ve found to take the worry out of my students’ eyes is by breaking down the process into simple steps. When they see the steps laid out and modeled, it no longer seems to be something that is “too hard.” Students, like adults, like to see what they are learning in action, but they also want a reference to go back to so that when they are practicing on their own, they can look back to see how to complete each step in the process. This was my main reason for creating my How To: Multiplying with Decimals booklet. My students did a great job following along with me during guided practice and I’d even have them take notes and write down the steps, but having this booklet to carry around with them while visiting math centers always proved invaluable. I would see students double-checking that they “hopped” correctly or referring back to the booklet to see if they had set up their equations correctly, and this never got old. There is something magical about seeing students take ownership of their learning, and watching them flip through their “how-to” booklets sparked such pride. 

How to Practice Multiplying With Decimals: 3 Engaging Activities 

Boom Cards

Boom Cards are one of my go-to digital activities in the classroom. They are wonderful because there are so many uses and students truly love them. Whether assigning to your remote learners or using in person, Boom Cards are an amazing way to gather important data about your students’ mastery with concepts such as multiplying with decimals. One of the best parts about Boom is that you can access Boom Cards decks on a free account (and so can your students!) or a paid version. The free account is perfect for “fast play” options and students get a score at the end of the Boom deck, which I like to record as I track their progress. They can play again and again to try to beat their score (which equals more practice time and more mastery – amazing)! You can also choose to pay for an account and get more thorough reports and data about student growth with skills. Check out this Boom Deck that I created for multiplying decimals! 

Task Cards 

Task cards are one of my go-to center resources. I love how easy they are, the low prep, and their portability. I store mine in small clear cases found at the Dollar Store, and this keeps them super organized. I also love to laminate mine so that they last longer. These Multiplying Decimals Task Cards are great for practicing calculations. Students find the product to complete each equation. I can really cater these to my individual students’ needs. For those who are struggling with this skill, I may use a card during their small group or one-on-one teacher time as they work through the process. Some students are ready for more independence with the skill and will work through multiple cards while at a center on their own. For enrichment, I usually have students solve the equation and then write their own word problem to go along with it. This really gets them thinking about how to use these skills in the real world. 

Math Games: Tic-Tac-Math for Multiplying with Decimals 

One of my all-time favorite games in the math classroom is my “Tic-Tac-Math” game. I have this game for many different fifth-grade math skills, including multiplying with decimals. Almost every student that I come across knows how to play tic-tac-toe and this game is a spin-off of that. Students use the deck of cards, x and o game pieces, and a game board as they work to get “tic-tac-math”. Here’s a little bit about how we play: 

Students are put in pairs and each person gets an answer card (they do their work on here) and their game pieces. The pair shuffles their deck of cards and lays out their game board. The first person to go will choose a card from the pile. Both students will solve the equation. They complete their work on the answer card, where they will check at the end of the game. After they complete their work, the person who drew the card will move to their tic-tac-toe spot. The next person draws a card and the game continues until someone gets “tic-tac-math”. Depending on the group of students, I will have students either wait until the end of the game to check their answers, or they may check their work as they go. Cards and answer keys are numbered so that they can easily check the problem that they are working on. My students LOVE this game and frequently ask me if they can play when they finish their math work early. 

If you love these center games as much as I do, check out my Multiplying Decimals Bundle here! 

Freebie! 

 Click here to download this step-by-step guide to decimal multiplication freebie! 

xo, Kristin