ABSTRACT
Fluency with decimals is really important and students need a great deal of opportunities to practice with a variety of models. Students should be able to make everyday connections to the math they are studying. Students need to understand decimals beyond money. Decimal bars are important because they scaffold thinking about decimals being numbers on a number line. Every classroom where decimals are taught should have a decimal number line in it. The decimal number lines should be visual. The decimal mat is becoming increasingly popular. Decimal grids are great because they are a different tool, unlike base ten blocks the model shows the whole then the tenths, then the hundredths and thousandths. In the beginning of the decimal unit it is important to spend a great deal of time on the models. Decimal bars are important in order for students to visualize equivalent decimals.
